Faery Tale
by rainbowwriters
Summary: The third story in our AU series, directly following Faeral. Dealing with the aftermath of the previous story, Bo finds herself facing a new enemy that is again attacking her from within her own ranks and must race to find the help she needs to keep a personal tragedy from turning into a worldwide problem.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimers: All original property is owned by Showcase, and we do not infer that any characters, creations or the concept of 'Lost Girl' are our property and the following fan fiction has been written purely for entertainment purposes only.

Pairings: Bo/Lauren Set directly after our story "Faeral", the third story in an AU plot line.

Rating: M (Contains scenes of violence, sexuality and nudity)

**Faery Tale: Chapter One**

By: The Rainbowwriters

Dyson had never been fond of art, it wasn't that he disliked it, it was just well, he didn't understand the attraction to colours on a canvas, sculptures made out of once living or any other type of medium or the like. He didn't have a preference for real film over digital when it came to photography, and he wasn't sure why anyone wanted to pay money to wander for hours around large buildings, talking in hushed voices while staring at paintings, drawings or other such creations that some individual had created one or one hundred years ago. He could probably point out the difference between realism and expressionism but that was more because he wasn't an ignorant individual and had made a point to educate himself over his nine hundred plus years, than it was because he had any love of the subject.

Two art styles that the wolf knew he really wasn't keen on were surrealism and cubism; the first, with its complex often confusing mishmash of regular things in irregular places, orientations and scenarios made Dyson uncomfortable mostly because he liked his life to make sense. He liked order, he liked things to be the way they should be. It helped him to function, helped him to live out his long fae life in a human world. The second because its often bold use of colour and its often jarring way of merging together the regular to make them look irregular, made little to no sense to him.

It was probably because of this intense dislike of these two art forms and the images they portrayed, that Dyson didn't like what he saw every time he closed his eyes. Not, he reflected, that he could do much but close his eyes and rest. His body was heavy, artificially so, and broken; he knew that much from the pain that occasionally flared through it when he did move and from the heat it was expelling the rest of the time. Though for some reason that didn't disturb him anywhere near as much as the kaleidoscopic pattern of craziness that was his memory since the Garuda.

The wolf had worked out a few basic facts:

1. He was at the compound. Possibly the lab, but one of the security cells in the lab. The ones that were themselves almost a moulded unit, with a full shock proof, bullet proof, everything proof plexiglass wall and complex double 'air lock' door system. Maximizing viewing, minimizing escape chance.

2. He had been there for about two maybe three days from what he could guess, but had seen no one he more than barely recognized as medical staff and lab technicians that worked for the Light. All of which seemed to be positively petrified of him.

3. He was physically restrained, at his wrists and his ankles, all be it by just thick leather cuffs, lined with soft padding, but still restrained all the same, not that it mattered all that much as the next fact.

4. He was physically broken. Mainly upper body damage that was healing but with facial and some cranial issues, so whatever had happened to him hadn't been pleasant.

5. His brain felt like a late Picasso painting, fractured and confusing. Filled with pieces of images that he briefly thought he might recognize, snippets of conversations he could almost recall, but the whole collection had neither cohesion nor relevance for him.

6. He was filled with an over whelming feeling of... something, he just wasn't sure what that something was.

The wolf was sure that for whatever reason they were keeping him heavily sedated, because of his injuries his logical mind told him, but that fractured kaleidoscopic area added other more conspiratorial theories. Unfortunately the more time that passed without him seeing anyone he knew to talk too, the louder the voice of question became. To the point that Dyson knew that soon he was going to start demanding answers, giving people a reason to look at him the way they did when they approached his room with his medications or to check on his stats. After all if something had hit them and hit them hard enough to take him out, then it was big and bad, and that meant he needed details, no matter what those details were.

Dyson's internal ramblings were interrupted by the soft hiss of the hydraulics as the inner door to his room opened and two medical personal entered to fuss with the latest round of bloodwork and stat checks. Lying silently, keeping his body still, his breathing even, the wolf tried to focus his mind.

"I need to talk to someone." He made the request, his voice a little gravely and dry. "Where's Doctor Lewis?" He asked for the first person that came to his mind that would be the easiest to get in this situation.

The fact he hadn't seen her around the lab striking him the instant the words were out of his mouth. He opened his eyes as his words were met by silence just in time to see the technicians glance at each other, an unreadable look on their face, but Dyson's nose could pick up fear anywhere. He would have frowned if the stitches in his face would have let him.

"I need to see her." He asked again this time putting a little more volume into his voice. It wasn't that he particularly wanted to see Lauren, it was just that he knew that if anyone knew what was going on it would be the doctor. "For god sake." Dyson pushed up a little off the bed groaning in pain and frustration with the move before dropping back down against the bed having actually moved very little.

In a flash of movement the two technicians were at the door and out of it, into the small interlocking chamber, sealing the inner door and locking it before moving out into the lab beyond and hurrying out of the wolf's sight.

-x-

With approximately 570,000 litres of water a second crashing over it, creating a voluminous spray and and more or less permanent rainbow, Niagara Falls is described by most to be both breath-taking and beautiful. A display of nature at its most impressive with its white waters and its scenic beauty. Around twelve million people visit the spectacle a year, another credit to add to its long list.

Bo had been surrounded by this luxury and beauty for two full days and still the thing she spent most of her time looking at was the blonde who was looking at her right at that moment. She did pull her eyes from her just for a fraction of a second to glance at the coat hanger in her hand and then she looked back at Lauren.

The blonde was stood leaned against a small display of souvenirs, she looked completely relaxed and happy in light blue jeans and a soft cotton button down, gold rimmed sunglasses where down over her eyes to help dim down the bright sun light that flooded in from the double wide open store front.

"You're serious aren't you?" The succubus asked of the blonde, watching as she pushed the glasses up onto the top of her head pushing her hair up along with them, beneath them her brown eyes were sparkling.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Lauren kept a straight face as she turned the question around.

"Lauren, it's pink." Bo looked back at the T-shirt on the hanger in her hand which indeed was baby pink, with a large cartoon moose on it with 'I Heart Niagara' written in a cartoon font beneath it. "If it was v-neck maybe but the girls gotta breathe." The succubus returned the shirt to the wall display shaking her head.

Lauren laughed softly and shook her head.

"Are you issuing a challenge?" The blonde asked as she half turned and picked up a pair of happy stuffed beavers who were holding a Canadian flag between them. "Because I don't think you should, there must be a hundred shops here with T-shirts like this and one of them has to have a neck line to suit 'the ladies'." She wiggled her eyebrows slightly.

"You want to spend hours and hours trekking around souvenir shops on our vacation rather than playing in the jacuzzi tub and making out on the Skywheel?" Bo moved from the racks of shirts over to Lauren and leaned against her shoulder slightly. "Really?" She looked at her lover with a soft pout.

"I'm not sure you're officially allowed to do that on the Skywheel." Lauren pointed out raising her finger with a soft smile.

"Yeah and it's only supposed to go round three times, but the nice guy on the controls seemed to appreciate how much we liked the view." Bo pressed her hand into the back pocket of Lauren's jeans as they moved together towards the exit to walk back onto the main street. She kept it there for a second and then pulled it free. "Sorry." She put a little space between them. "That was a little 'girlfriendy' of me." She teased softly as Lauren flicked out her hand trying to catch hold of Bo's arm, but the succubus had darted away.

"Is this because I let you take me away?" Lauren reached out her hand for Bo much to the succubus delight.

"Actually this was your idea." Bo reminded the blonde as they joined the throng of people waiting to cross the road at the lights. "You are the smart one."

"I will find a T-shirt." Lauren slipped her hand into her pocket after putting her shades back onto her nose. "And you will wear it." She added with a bright grin, "Moose or no moose."

"Don't you think a beaver is more my style." Bo bumped her hip into the blonde's lowering her own dark shades onto her face after giving her lover an exaggerated wink.

-x-

For the first time in days, a technician did not enter the 'security pod' at the one hour interval prescribed to administer a dose of sedation to the captive wolf. Dyson was sure however that the full area of the room had been filled instead with some sort of high tech 'sleep gas', and no matter how hard he tried it had overtaken his effort. The world around him had snapped into oblivion again, and he had no awareness of the air flow returning to a normal oxygen mix.

As soon as the room was cleared of the gas, a group of no less than six attendants came into the pod. Two went immediately to add a second level restraints to his upper thighs and over his lower stomach. There had been much discussion that had gone on between the attending doctors and the Ash. This level of restraints usually outlined to include a number of upper body cuffs, but considering the level of upper body injuries it had been the doctor that had reluctantly refused the use of the throat and upper arm restraints.

The other four busied themselves with reading the outputs of various machines, adjusting them all it seemed. The loud electronic beeps, coming in quick series much like a tapped out code but it wasn't any code that anyone could have made sense of.

Finally two of the doctors left through the automatic door, the four that remained taking up positions around the room, looking anxiously at the doorway as the hydraulics sounded again and the Ash himself came in. With a soft motion he ordered them all to leave through the door before the timer went off. Only the last one exchanging a momentary look at the Ash, his eyes speaking to the perceived threat that the wolf posed but Hale shook it off with a soft nod and a smile.

At first Hale kept his distance from the bed. Not because he had any belief that Dyson would go from unconsciousness to attack, the hormone therapy they had perfected from Dr. Lewis' original framework of treatment should have more then taken care of that, it was because he knew his partner and invading his space never eased a situation.

It was another two to three minutes before Hale saw Dyson's eyelids start to flutter, and his muscles flexing.

"Dyson." He stepped a little closer trying to help the wolf focus on his voice.

"Hale." Dyson said the name, his lips dry and it took him a moment to co-ordinate wetting them with his tongue.

"Take it easy man." Hale went directly to a small table nearby, picking up a Styrofoam cup full of water and bringing it over to Dyson for him to take a sip.

Hale's willingness to come so close to him made Dyson very aware that when he had been conscious, none of the technicians ever came into this range. He felt a smile tug at stitches he now felt very sure were in the upper and lower part of his cheek. Slowly he took a long drink through the straw that was already in the cup, his throat feeling soothed by the cold fresh liquid.

"Sorry, Ash. I'd get up but I seem to be slightly broken." Dyson apologized as Hale moved to put the cup aside.

"Slightly broken is an understatement I'm afraid." Hale frowned softly keeping his closeness to the edge of the bed. "I would give you a run down but suffice it to say in time all your limbs will work, but you might not be as pretty as you were before." He tried to keep there initial interaction relaxed and uncomplicated by explanations. Unless Dyson asked for them, Hale had decided, knowing he was ignoring the doctor's suggestion to hide certain details from him until his status could be confirmed.

Dyson took in the information with a soft nod, actually relieved to know that despite the intense pain in his shoulder the limb hadn't been destroyed.

"And a little confused." He finally made the admission after a slow deep breath. "I'm sure there is a reason that I'm here; under guard, looking like I took the ass kicking of a lifetime, being dosed with sedatives every hour and causing such fear that the technicians jump if I so much as cough funny." He held his partner's eyes. " Really Hale, could you tell an old friend what the hell is going on?"

"Well..." Hale's face grew serious and he leaned against the edge of the bed. "It's a slightly complicated story." He broke eye contact for a moment but then held Dyson's eyes again. "The short version is that we believe the return of what the Norn took from you initiated a second Buaigh Ar An Ainmhi." He said the sacred Celtic words slowly and seriously.

"What?" Dyson painfully raised a stitched eyebrow, vague memories of his youthful quest when he had finally been called to be tested, settling with equal amounts of pride and disappointment. "I underwent a second Buaigh Ar An Ainmhi? How, the Great Wolf Spirit would never call for such a thing."

"We believe that it wasn't the Great Wolf Spirit but the Garuda who fulfilled the requirement of a great power to call the quest." Hale watched the wolf's face knowing this news was frightening for a shifter like Dyson.

"The Garuda began my quest?" Dyson felt a cold feeling start in his stomach as his mind brought forwards memories of facing off with the eagle spirit. The ancient being's words harder to remember then the sight of Lauren sprawled on the ground at his feet. Then suddenly the words rang clearly through his head, the Garuda calling for him to kill the blonde, destroy her and claim the love of his mate. "That's why the technician panicked when I asked to speak to Dr. Lewis." Another thread of clarity dawned on him as he flexed his arms against the wrist restraints more to just feel the muscles tense then any level of aggression.

If anything to Hale, the wolf voice betrayed the level of confusion and panic he was feeling. The idea that he could have undertaken a Conquering, here in the city and outside the forest, and have it be over murdering Lauren to get to Bo, clearly sobering any left over effects of the sedative.

"You're focus was specifically Bo and Lauren" Hale filled in for him trying to stay factual and to the point. "Dyson, it was Bo that did this too you, you broke out of a level three security room and attacked Lauren at the Dal." He swallowed not really wanting to try to outline everything that had gone on this quickly but knowing that he needed certain key facts.

"Attacked Lauren." The wolf repeated the words, as a confusing flash of memories flooded up from nowhere. "Did I hurt her?" He asked the question, not able to answer it himself despite playing through the memories he could hold onto over and over. Another part of his brain was still trying to deal with the idea that Bo had done this to him, the reasons for her not coming to see him getting more and more obvious.

"Mild concussion, a few stitches up in her hairline." The Ash filled in the details of the doctor's injuries. "Dyson, you... you actually broke out of the dungeon twice." He gave a soft sigh. "The first time you lured the doc to the parking lot in the middle of the night, terrorized her and were about to ..." He trailed off for a moment before he looked the wolf in the eye again his voice lower. "Rape her to show your dominance over her." He saw the way Dyson's eyes flared in shock at the outline. "When Bo and Kenzi showed up and immobilized you, we thought you were going feral." He mentioned the misdiagnosis for the first time. "Then you broke out again, went straight to find Lauren and were about to show your dominance over her in front of Bo to fulfil your quest." The Ash tactfully summed up the horrific situation.

"And Bo stopped me?" Dyson said the Succubus' name for the first time, reeling from all the information of deeds that he couldn't really remember. He would admit that he had flashes of words and places. He could remember being with the doctor in a dark parking lot, but he had no context or dialogue to make it make sense.

"Lauren knew that you weren't going feral, she figured out that you being manipulated by the Conquering but you struck before treatment could be started." Hale filled in the background before he addressed what Bo had done. "Bo stopped you." He frowned. "I wasn't there but the description Trick gave me suggests she broke you from the Buaigh by showing you that you weren't the leader of the pack, she is."

"I don't remember." Dyson admitted wishing he could raise one of his hands to his head, in the natural automatic reaction to try and pluck the hidden memories from within. As he struggled he could remember pain suddenly, and the unaligned beauties voice telling him almost in a whisper that she could kill him, would kill him if he didn't submit. "I don't..." He looked at Hale for a moment not sure how to express anything of what he was feeling, his eyes fell on Hale's lapel and he frowned more. "You're wearing the official emblem, did I miss the coronation?"

"You did." Hale gave him a sad nod. "You've been out of order for awhile now my friend."

"I like my quarters, I remember when we approved the schematics." Dyson nodded settling on the fact that it wasn't likely he could take in all that had happened to him right now. "Thank you for everything, I'm sure I have you to thank for keeping me from being bound." He added knowing how things in the political arena must have played out at the very least.

"It got close there for awhile but remember the Buaigh Ar An Ainmhi is a very mystical rite of shifters that everyone knows puts you in a state beyond your control." Hale nodded reaching out to pat the other man's arm. "I just wanted to give you an idea, when you're better we'll go through it all in detail when you're in better shape."

"Not how I expected the aftermath of the Garuda to play out." Dyson admitted with a heavy breath out, letting his head rest back against the pillow. "Not what I expected at all."

-x-

Despite it being just the third day of Kenzi's 'home alone' adventure, the clubhouse had undergone a dramatic transformation. The kitchen was quite literally a hazardous zone: empty take out containers with partial eaten meals were stacked on the counter; glasses and mugs were abandoned in the spaces in between; and the island looked as if Kenzi was creating a pizza box sculpture.

All in all, the main floor more resembled the younger woman's bedroom then ever before. Without even Bo to occasionally rib her into picking up discarded clothes and in most cases pick it up and deposit it back in Kenzi's room, it almost appeared as if most of her wardrobe had migrated like a herd of buffalo from one room to the main area.

If she was truthful, Kenzi hadn't slept in her own bed since Bo and Lauren had left for their mini vacation. She'd migrated between the couch and the Succubus' big bed, feeling safe in her best friend's room surrounded by various weapons.

The most unexpected thing was that since Kenzi had waved from the doorway at the back of the Camaro three days before, she hadn't actually left the clubhouse. She had instead filled her time with television, video games, take-out and laziness. After all she deserved her own mini vacation considering all they had gone through recently.

Normally, Kenzi would have expected to be checked up on by either of the policemen, but with Hale struggling with his new career and Dyson held prisoner somewhere in the depths of the compound she was on her own. A feeling she hadn't really experienced since before she'd met Bo. Of course if she'd wanted to get out, the Dal was always there and usually involved free drinks but she honestly didn't want to deal with Trick until Bo was back.

For all these reasons when her phone rang, Kenzi had to first untangle herself from the blankets on the couch and actually dig through things on the coffee table to find it.

"Hey, how's the water?" Kenzi teased seeing that it was Bo's number. So far they'd exchanged a number of texts; confirming they'd arrived safe and that the hotel Kenzi had arranged for them was beautiful. But other than that Lauren and Bo had been enjoying being on their own, and the younger woman didn't blame them for that in the slightest. She could barely imagine how the doctor had managed to stay so relatively calm during the time that Dyson was hunting her.

"It's beautiful, we have presents for you." Bo admitted immediately, clearly outside somewhere from the noises that Kenzi could hear in the background. "How are you?"

"Missing you both of course." Kenzi laid back down with the phone smiling at the relaxed tone of her best friend's voice. "Did you remember fudge? I need fudge."

"We're picking up fudge right before we leave so its fresh." Bo laughed lightly having been warned about 'the fudge' a half a dozen times now. "Mostly I was calling to tell you we'll be home late tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Kenzi sat up again on the couch taking a quick look around at the mess and destruction. "Are you sure? Have you had sex in the heart shaped jacuzzi yet?"

"I am not answering that." Bo laughed again, even though she knew both Lauren and herself had fallen in love with the in-room amenity. "And yes tomorrow, so clean up and get all the boys out." She teased.

"Damn how did you know about the male strippers I brought home last night?" Kenzi teased back. "Seriously thought Bo, are you sure you two have relaxed enough?" Her voice changed to a softer tone of concern.

"It's been great." Bo's voice held a wistful happiness. "But we can't stay here in wonderland forever."

"I get it, but if you decide tomorrow to stay another night I won't be offended." Kenzi spelled out not wanting her best friend to be worried about her.

"I'll pitch another day to Lauren." Bo agreed. "Are you sure you're okay though?" She checked again.

"I'm fine Bo." Kenzi assured her. "I just need time to clean up last night's rave, now go enjoy yourself some more and take pictures for me." She underlined the instructions to her.

"Ten four." Bo acknowledged. "The shuttle is here, we're checking out the casino for a bit so wish us luck."

"Bring me back millions." Kenzi urged her and with quick goodbyes she finally hung up the phone and looked around at the mess with a frown.

Almost immediately she summed up that she had well over twenty four hours to deal with it, and simply laid back down reaching out for a chicken wing from the package on the table.

-x-


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimers: All original property is owned by Showcase, and we do not infer that any characters, creations or the concept of 'Lost Girl' are our property and the following fan fiction has been written purely for entertainment purposes only.

Pairings: Bo/Lauren Set directly after our story "Faeral", the third story in an AU plot line.

Rating: M (Contains scenes of violence, sexuality and nudity)

**Faery Tale: Chapter Two**

By: The Rainbowwriters

The night was beautiful and as Bo rested her hand against the glass of the oversized window in their suite she realized that she really was looking at one of the natural wonders of the world. She decided to leave the lower vent, under the window, open so that the sound of the rushing water going over the falls filled the room with the essence of the view. As Bo stood there, watching the illuminated white water spray she realized for the first time in a long time she didn't feel like she should be looking over her shoulder.

A text from Hale had assured her that Dyson's treatment was going very smoothly and that he'd even been able to speak with the wolf himself without incident. It seemed that the face off between them at the Dal had ended the Conquering quest that the Garuda had set for the wolf, and she had to admit she felt a great sense of relief. Her fear until she'd heard from Hale was that even with her extreme response, Dyson had not received the message and was going to continue until he was successful or destroyed.

With a soft smile, Bo turned to see Lauren was sitting on the bed looking over the room service menu. Her sense of relief increased as she watched the relaxed blonde, who was wearing a light tank top and shorts, confident now that their decision to go away had been the best one. There were a lot of things at home that had needed to work themselves out, things that didn't need either of them there.

The only problem that was still swirling rather prominently in the brunette's mind was more about herself then anything or anyone else. After all she was a succubus, a fae who fed on sexual energy and who could 'sway or thrall' people to do her bidding. None of the descriptions anyone had offered her explained how she had been able to not only physically dominate but almost destroy Dyson. A wolf shifter fae who, by most accounts, was one of the most physically dangerous creatures you could come across.

The 'blue banshee' side of her was honestly something that scared her. Though so far entering the heightened state had enabled her to protect the people she loved, it wasn't something she wanted to rely on. What she hadn't really admitted was that the more she dipped into her power, the closer it seemed to rise to the surface.

"Lauren, how much research have you done on succubus fae?" Bo asked the question softly as she moved closer to the bed, sitting on the edge of the oversized king mattress.

"Before I met you..." Lauren looked up at her obviously thinking about the left-field question. "Not much, I had an Incubus I'd occasionally treat but you were the first of your kind that I, pardon the term, got my hands on." She smiled slightly at her lover. "Since then, I've done a lot of reading."

"What else can I do?" Bo asked the question reaching to take Lauren's foot in her hands as she began to massage it.

"What else can you do?" Lauren put the menu aside and focused completely on the succubus. "I don't know." She admitted wishing she could provide the answers that Bo was so clearly searching for. "Bo, your bloodline is incredibly complex, just being a succubus is detailed enough, but you are the granddaughter of the Blood King, and that automatically changes things." She pointed out. "Added to the fact that we don't know what kind of fae your father was, what powers he could have gifted you with." She added and watched the thoughts flashing across Bo's features with a frown. "But that's not what you're asking is it. You want to know what a typical thirty year old succubus would have been taught to do by now." She looked at Bo for confirmation.

"I want to know how I did what I did to Dyson. I'm not super powerful physically but... I could just toss him around. I was so angry at him and I felt invincible." Bo looked down at her hands again as they pressed into the blonde's skin, the shadow of the feeling even hard to find now even if it was so all encompassing at the time. "Why do I pass out at the end?"

"I don't know." Lauren was honest. "I wish I did because to be honest it worries me." The blonde admitted with a soft frown. "There was nothing remarkable about your blood work immediately after, and other than there being a flux in your blood pressure, respiratory and pulse rate nothing noticeably physical happens." She shook her head gently. "Succubi can and do channel energy and power from fae that they feed from, but not like you did in the Dal from what I've been told. That was my long winded way of I don't know." She summed up with a slightly defeated sigh.

"I just wanted to admit that I don't know either." Bo added gently finally expressing the real reason she'd brought up this conversation. "I just know I wasn't going to let him hurt you, ever... I..." She took a breath clearly as confused as the doctor was, though she didn't want to admit the rush of panic and protectiveness that rose inside her at the idea of anyone hurting Lauren. "I just know I love you." She decided on the more important fact.

"Which may have something to do with it." Lauren smiled as she moved closer to her, and put her hand on Bo's knee. "Being in love isn't something that tends to run hand in hand with being a succubus." She squeezed the brunette's knee, wanting her to understand that she wasn't dismissing what Bo felt just that for her type of fae it was unusual. "A succubus' nature is to consumer sexual energy, it's all about the sex not long term relationships." She clarified further. "Not that I am complaining in anyway about this slight anomaly." The blonde's smile brightened as she reached up to cup Bo's cheek. "When it is so obviously in my favour."

"I guess this means you're primed to write the definitive book on Succubi." Bo chuckled at the plural of what she was, the word always sounding made up to her. "More importantly did you decide on what you wanted from room service?"

"To be honest all it sounds yummy but it's so expensive." Lauren gave Bo a gentle smile, reaching back for the menu.

"I think the light fae can afford you getting surf and turf just once." Bo smiled and snuggled into the blonde's side to look at the offerings from the hotel kitchen. "How about I order for us both, so it's a surprise?"

"That sounds nice." Lauren pulled one of Bo's arm around her body, leaving the brunette's chin to rest on her shoulder.

"The next question is do you want to work up an appetite first?" Bo whispered reaching to smooth Lauren's hair out of her way so she could place soft kisses on her lover's throat.

"They only offer room service until eleven." Lauren teased even as she tipped her head enjoying the touch. If there was one thing this vacation had given her, it was a strong sense of intimacy with Bo.

"I get the hint you're hungry already." Bo gave a soft chuckle, dropping another kiss on Lauren's throat before she moved back to stand and took the menu, heading towards the phone.

"How about I fill the hot tub while you order?" Lauren had to admit she loved the idea of Bo ordering their dinner, the small romantic gesture making her wish they never had to leave.

"Perfect." Bo nodded, already picking up the phone, her mind easily deciding on what she was going to order for them to enjoy. The fact was that she didn't care what the bill came too, Hale would certainly get it back in favours at some point in the future.

Of course when the phone finally clicked over to the restaurant, Bo was slow to answer as she'd been watching Lauren's ass as she bent over to turn on the taps of the tub on the other side of the room. Still watching her lover she quickly listed off her order, and as soon as she hung up the phone Bo moved to where the blonde was.

"It's going to be forty five minutes." Bo explained as Lauren turned to face her and immediately Bo put her hands on the blonde's waist. "We can do a lot in forty five minutes." She wiggled her eyebrows.

"Can we?" Lauren teased though she pressed her body closer to the brunette's. "You're getting the door."

"Of course I am, no one gets to see you but me." Bo assured her, knowing there was very little that she wouldn't do for the blonde.

"I don't think the bellboy is interested in looking at me." The blonde gave a soft laugh.

"I wish you could see what I see." Bo reached up her fingers curling blonde hair around Lauren's ear seductively. "Such beauty... beautiful, beautiful Lauren." She ran a finger down around her lover's chin to tip her head, bringing their lips tenderly together.

"I love you." Lauren heard the tone of her voice dropping in response to the flair of arousal that filtered through her body.

Though the answer didn't agree with her appraisal, Bo literally felt her body grow lighter as she heard the three words she knew she could never get enough of. Her love for Lauren felt so tangible at these moments that Bo pressed their lips together again, an instant fire sparking between them that even the waters of the large tub couldn't hope to extinguish.

Remembering that in around forty five minutes they would be interrupted, Bo moved to begin peeling off her lover's clothes in order to show Lauren how much she was loved back.

-x-

Trick couldn't help but smile slightly as Hale flanked at either side by somewhat awkward looking security guards entered the Dal, making a bee-line for the bar. The young Siren fixed his eyes on the barkeep who did his best to not find the whole situation openly amusing as he moved to where Hale stopped at the bar.

"Ash." Trick nodded slightly his tone respectful as he gave a bow of his head.

"Oh please." Hale gave his friend 'the look' which he extended to the guard who offered to pull out the bar stool for him. "Go relax." He ordered them, sighing loudly when their definition of that was to both take up flanking positions close to him, but leaning on the bar. "You know in that whole compound there isn't anything good to drink." The siren shifted his weight up onto the bar stool.

"Then let me pour you something I know you'll enjoy." Trick gave him a soft nod and turned, bending down to take a burgundy bottle out of a lower cabinet. He poured a generous ounce for the Ash and waited to see what he thought.

"You know if I didn't know you and why you were really working at the way station..." Hale breathed out. "I'd commission you to work as my personal butler."

"How about I put together some spirits and the tea mix that you like and have them delivered to you?" Trick made the offer, not taking any offence to the reference of him being a butler but instead appreciating that the young man's sentiment.

"You are the man." Hale smiled at him and then put down what he had in his hand on the bar top, it was a dark blue folder. "I was just going to take this to Kenzi, but I was wondering if, as a friend, you would look it over for me." He asked with a soft smile. "It's my first work contract and I didn't want to take too much advice from those in my court that were willing to give it, considering who the contract is for." He smiled a little more at the older fae. "You can say no, but I would appreciate your input, you're used to wording and what is appropriate and what's not. I mean I want Kenzi to be able to just walk in there and dig through everything but I know that's not appropriate." He acknowledged.

"I am more then happy to help." Trick took the blue folder from him, not immediately opening it, indeed if he was going to check it over he would have to do so later when he could focus his attention on it completely. "And I do understand your intention, but it is important that some of the liberties you give Kenzi are verbal not spelled out within the contract." He explained that he did understand the dilemma that Hale was in. "Asking of another important topic, how is Dyson?"

"Better, much better." Hale nodded emphatically. "The treatments the doc prepared are working great with his hormone levels, and it seems that Bo literally knocked some sense into him." He took a swallow of his drink. "Not that he remembers much of what happened, which is another thing I wanted to swing by you, that's common right? Juvenile shifters don't remember their Buaigh Ar An Ainmhi or their time in the forest before it, that's part of the reason for the trial, right?"

"Yes." Trick alleviated his concern immediately. "I was expecting his memories to be patchy at best, he will probably have more associated memories of emotion then true memories. The Buaigh Ar An Ainmhi is intended to be a true time of metamorphosis, the extreme nature of the event precludes the bodies ability to form coherent memories." He paused and looked seriously at Hale. "Have you told him what he did yet?"

"Basics." The siren nodded. "He understands that other people need a little time." He added tactfully. "Though a visit from one of his oldest friends might not go a miss?" He hinted with a bright smile. "I know the guy at the top in that place, I could hook you up with a free pass."

"I was waiting for the Ash's permission to visit." Trick smiled at him, knowing that no matter how long Hale served as the leader of the light Fae he would probably never be comfortable with the level of power it entitled him too. "I'm anxious to talk to him, help him fill in what he will need to make any sense of this for himself."

"Speaking of talking to people, has the champion called you from her vacation?" Hale asked finishing off his drink, looking decidedly more relaxed than her had just moments before when he had arrived.

"I have not heard from Bo." The bartender shook his head. "But then again, she is on vacation and I am not her keeper." He gave a soft sigh, having rather hoped his granddaughter would check in with him. "I assume that she and Lauren are enjoying their time away from everything."

Hale frowned slightly at this response, having had a photograph and text from the succubus, a beautiful one actually of the pair of them sitting in a horse drawn carriage with the falls in the distance, the message 'the horse's name was Ash', had made him chuckle, and indeed did every time he looked at it in need of a pick me up.

"I think perhaps part of her reason for going was to avoid me, she hasn't viewed me as her most trusted ally recently." Trick gave another soft sigh. "You are a young man Hale..." He looked at the Siren truly wanting him to understand the seriousness of what he was about to say. "Could you explain to an old man how he can open himself up more? How he can open his mind to new ideas even if they clash with old rules?" He leaned heavier on the bar. "There is so much Bo does not understand about the past, so much that I'm not sure I can explain and I'm afraid if I don't find a way, I will lose the faith of my granddaughter much as I did my own daughter." His sad eyes held the Siren's. "And that is a mistake I do not want to make again."

"It's a tough one." Hale admitted. "I mean look at my own relationship with my father." He admitted looking down, a trace of shame in his tone and in the look in his eye. "But Bo..." He paused and shook his head. "She's different you know?" He looked at the older fae. "She wasn't brought up as one of us, she feels and acts from the heart and the hip." The siren glanced at Trick to see if he was following what he was trying to say. "You've just got to be honest with her, really honest, none of this half true stuff that you're used to telling us all." He actually smiled at the Blood King when he said these words. "Because I get that we need half truths, we're just you know like subjects to the great BK as it were." He lowered his tone. "But she, she's your little momma." He tried to spell it out. "She needs heart felt, painful level honesty and feeling from you."

"I fear that if I am honest with her, I will only drive her away from me." The level of regret in the Blood King's voice was unusual for him. "But you may be right..." His eyes focused again on the Siren. "She is never satisfied with half truths, sometimes I forget that the lessons she learned growing up with humans aren't something she can easily turn away from." He stopped and a soft smile crossed his face. "And I don't know if I can ever really express to her that while I might not agree with her choices, I am proud of the woman she is, of the way she has not only survived but thrived." He continued to appraise Hale and his smile grew. "And in case I do not say it enough, thank you my friend, you have never been just a subject to me, you have always been an intelligent and thoughtful counsel in my times of need."

"Well I might be calling a lot of those times in with the new title and everything." Hale admitted shaking his head with a broad smile, "I don't know how you did it back then as everything for everyone man, but this Ash thing..." He blew air up to his forehead. "It's not an easy gig." He chuckled as he fished his phone out of his pocket and brought up the photograph Bo had sent him. "There's your respectful granddaughter." He chuckled more holding it out to the barkeep.

"I will tell her that comparing the leader of the light fae to a carriage horse technically could result in a public hanging." Trick laughed as he saw the picture, but he had to even admit to himself that his granddaughter did look completely relaxed and happy. Wasn't happy what he had always wanted for her? "Luckily for her, you have a sense of humour."

"I'm a male siren, it came with the dice roll." Hale laughed more shaking his head watching as Trick took another long look at the photograph smiling.

-x-

Dyson looked up from the magazine he was reading when he heard the series of locks on his 'downgraded' security room's door, and was honestly pleased when he saw it was not one of his usual visitors but the Blood King.

"I wasn't sure I would be allowed a real visitor for another few days." Dyson smiled, happy that the stitches had been removed from his face, his natural accelerated healing having done a great deal of work over the proceeding days.

"Luckily for us both, the Ash is a benevolent leader." Trick made his way over to the side of the bed. "How are you doing old friend?"

"Well someones granddaughter has a mean left hook." He replied with a smile.

"That she does." Trick smiled back. "Though I do think some credit must be given to solid woodwork in the Dal Riata."

"I will pay for everything." The wolf shook his head apologetically and closed his eyes briefly before looking up again with a sigh. "I don't know what to say." He added honestly, "I feel like i should have been better than this, should have stopped myself." He sighed again.

"My friend, you above anyone knows the nature of the Buaigh Ar An Ainmhi. You cannot control that which is uncontrollable." Trick shook his head gently to the worry. "Even you as strong as you are cannot fight the mystical rites."

"I should have sort seclusion after my interaction with the Garuda." The wolf went on, "I felt after then, something different." His brow knotted tightly. "If I had succeeded in my goal..." He looked up at Trick looking genuinely mortified. "My life would mean nothing."

"But you did not succeed." The Blood King shook his head solidly. "So to discuss what could have happened, when it did not, is unnecessary." He frowned softly. "Enough did happen that I fear you will experience some of the punishment you feel you deserve." He briefly flashed back in his mind to when the wolf had come into the bar, the look in Dyson's eyes had turned his blood icy. "My granddaughter's right hook may seem tolerable compared to her distrust."

"Hale tells me that she has taken Lauren away, to try and repair some of the damage I have done." Dyson hung his head again.

"She has." Trick agreed with the information. "But I know she will come and see you when she is ready and invited. My words may offer little comfort..." He waited until dark eyes came up to meet his. "But despite the darkness of the hour, Bo never gave up on you, never gave up that what was happening was not truly you. Even when she could have killed you... she never gave up on you."

"On the contrary old friend they bring solace to my troubled soul." Dyson admitted. "I can only pray that with time I can begin to mend what I have undone." He tipped his head back this time and sighed again. "You know Trick, I am not saying that after what Kenzi did for me I expected the world to just be 'right' again, but I did expect it to feel a little more normal, not turn into something I don't even recognize." He admitted his voice sounding somewhat lost. "I could even have hurt her." He added in a quieter voice not being specific on who 'her' was.

"I wish that I had great words of council." Trick frowned hard feeling his old friend's pain. "All I can say is to be patient, your body is still adjusting to the changes the Buaigh Ar An Ainmhi has created within you and the corrections that the hormone treatment are designed to make. Give yourself time to physically heal, time to get your footing inside your mind before you try to face the world and all that will bring."

"Get used to my accommodations and take some time to work on my fae lore, is that what you're advice to this old wolf is?" Dyson actually managed a half smile. "I never was one for books Trick."

"Some things will never change." Trick smiled back at him, reaching into the inside of his jacket to produce a large silver flask. "This might help pass the time." He offered it to Dyson. "Because I think what you need most is rest."

"The only good thing Hale tells me is that he has 'sorted' my job." Dyson took the flask with a smile, "I'm not sure what that means, coming from the Ash but I guess I'm just going to have to learn to trust this new set up." He stopped and then just looked at the Blood King. "It is so good to see you."

"Why don't I have them bring me a chair and we can spend some time?" Trick nodded his agreement to the sentiment and moved to knock on the door to make the request.

-x-


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimers: All original property is owned by Showcase, and we do not infer that any characters, creations or the concept of 'Lost Girl' are our property and the following fan fiction has been written purely for entertainment purposes only.

Pairings: Bo/Lauren Set directly after our story "Faeral", the third story in an AU plot line.

Rating: M (Contains scenes of violence, sexuality and nudity)

**Faery Tale: Chapter Three**

By: The Rainbowwriters

The homecoming at the clubhouse the next night was jubilant and exciting. It took well over a hour before Kenzi had heard every detail she wanted to hear about their trip, and had eaten her way through at least one large package of 'maple walnut' fudge. The three of them had also looked at the three dozen photographs that Lauren had downloaded onto her tablet, Kenzi managing instantly to point out the only one in which Bo's naked ass was visible in a mirror in the hotel room, even though the photo's subject was the view of the falls from their bed.

All and all, Bo had to admit, she was glad to be home. For so many years she hadn't had a home, so now that she had one, currently filled with the two women in the world who she loved the most, Bo felt a sense of contentment. Time away was great, escaping your normal surroundings and the trappings associated within, but the nature of vacation was that it was temporary.

"I was expecting this place to look like a war zone." Bo admitted to her best friend with a soft smile.

"No way!" Kenzi flapped her hand at the succubus. "This was your coming home present, I even changed your bed." She grinned innocently. "Which may have had more to do with the pizza I dropped on your comforter than anything, but still I changed the sheets." She grinned more. "It's so good to have you home." The younger woman admitted flopping back to lie in Bo's lap again holding up the snow globe that Bo had given her, shaking it hard. "Though the mass of presents are awesome." She watched the cascade of swirling iridescent confetti within the globe.

"You were missed too." Bo moved her hand to smooth over Kenzi's hair affectionately. "There were so many places you would have loved, whenever life let's us the three of us have to go back. I want to see how you do at the haunted house."

"You know I'd breeze through it." Kenzi laughed sitting up for just a second to look over to where Lauren was unpacking a few things in the kitchen, before she laid down again. "The doc is looking good." She looked up at her best friend watching her response. "Looks like a little one on one succubus time perked her up."

"She does look good doesn't she?" Bo's eyes went to where Kenzi's had and she smiled. "It was exactly what we needed after everything." She gave a contented sigh. "I just hope the fae world has the decency to leave us all alone for a little while longer."

"Well we can do some stuff to help, not take on any cases, stay low on the radar." Kenzi offered making herself more comfortable on her Bo pillow. "You know you actually look younger..." She couldn't help but just look up at her best friend. "It's so cool."

"Being in love suits me?" Bo questioned with a quirky grin.

"I think so." Kenzi nodded. "How does it feel?" She asked turning slightly so she was on her side more facing the succubus. "Still sacred as hell?"

"No." Bo shook her head softly. "It took awhile but I'm not jumping at every noise and looking over my shoulder all the time. Have you heard anything?" She didn't mention the wolf's name trying not to alert Lauren to their conversation.

"Yeah I've been talking to Hale, well no not talking to as in lots, but we've texted a few times. It's all on the up and up." She answered carefully picking up on Bo's concern. "But actually I wasn't talking about that, I was talking about you being afraid of the big L." She kept her smile big as she looked at her best friend.

"It's still a bit scary." Bo admitted smiling back at her. "But the benefits far out weigh anything else." She ruffled Kenzi's hair again. "When we were away I realized I've spent a long time trying to fight my feelings, but they're too strong to fight. I love her." She glanced back at the kitchen.

"Inside I'm gagging." Kenzi said though she was beaming. "We looking for a real house then?"

"First, we have your investigation to sort out but... after that we'll be looking. I know you have your heart set on a crack shack with a pool." Bo teased her.

"I don't have to find my own place?" The trace of a frown graced Kenzi brow, after all she couldn't blame Bo for wanting to move on with her life now that she had made Lauren her choice.

"Kenz, never." Bo shook her head adamantly, her voice serious. A thread of panic entered her body as she realized how Kenzi might fear being the third wheel. "Lauren's already been joking about how the dream place will need a finished basement for you to take over, paint funny colours and fill with the 'warm' products your millions of cousins drop off for a few hours."

"Did you want the rest of your fudge in the fridge Kenzi?" Lauren's voice called from the kitchen, making the younger woman perk up to peek over the back of the couch.

"Please." Kenzi nodded turning to Bo with a smile as she rested her head on her hands. "It could be like a basement apartment, with everything but my own kitchen, I'm okay with Lauren cooking for me."

-x-

Bo came back from the bathroom in her red dragon kimono, laughing inside at the differences between her decaying restroom and the ornate marble and chrome fixtures of the hotel bathroom. She wasn't surprised to see Lauren sitting on the bed, pushing buttons on the blackberry that the blonde had been ordered by the Ash to leave behind.

"So are you tired, lover?" Bo leaned against the bottom post of the bed and smiled at her, a relaxed lightness still permeating her entire being.

Lauren instantly placed the small appliance on a pile of books on the floor by the side of the bed and tipped her head slightly letting all of her hair fall over her right shoulder. She was wearing a small pair of sleep shorts and a light grey strap top. A smile spread across her face as she took in the sight of the succubus and the more than charming smile that she was being given.

"I take it you're not." She gave the response in an amused tone.

"I can't say I am." Bo twirled around slowly to the other post, one hand playing with the tie at her waist. "But it's okay if you are."

"What's under the robe?" Lauren shifted back slightly to sit up further on the bed, stretching her legs out as she propped her back up with pillows, watching Bo's movements.

"Under the robe?" Bo looked upwards for a moment as if thinking. "Nothing." She admitted moving up on her knees between the two posts. "Would you rather I wear something to bed?" She finally started to move closer to the blonde. "You didn't object in Niagara."

"No." Lauren shook her head and drew her tongue slowly over her lips, her eyes following every shift in the other woman's body that brought her closer. "Am I wearing too much?" She asked her voice dropping to an unusually low tone, slightly amazed that neither of them had had enough 'intimate' time while on vacation.

"Yes, but we can work on that." Bo moved her hands to Lauren's ankles and gently guided them apart,

moving up the small distance so that her knees were even with the blonde's before she sat up straighter and undid her robe. It fell slightly open, offering a sliver of her body but nothing more. She kept one end of the tie in each hand, trailing them over Lauren's legs as she kept contact with brown eyes.

Lauren felt her breathing shift gears slightly, her eyes flaring as a roll of passion stirred inside her. The stimulation of the gentle teasing motion of the light fabric touching her skin making shivers dance up and down her spine.

"Bo." Lauren said the Succubus' name in a breathy tone, obviously already aroused. "I thought you wanted to just to curl up into bed after the long drive."

"I do want to curl up after the long drive, I want to curl up in bed..." Bo replaced the silk with her fingertips, though her eyes stayed tracked on Lauren's. "And touch you, until you fall asleep in my arms."

"Oh really?" Lauren leaned back more heavily into the pillows behind her. "And when were you going to tell me this new outline of yours?"

"Yes, but I had to find out if you were too tired." Bo noted for the first time looking down, so that she watched her fingertips trace over Lauren's skin.

"Your touch sets my skin on fire." Lauren's voice turned into a low purr as she gave a soft roll of her hips and tucked one hand under her head, helping to prop it up so she could keep looking at Bo.

"So we don't need to worry about you being tired?" Bo teased as she finally moved up over Lauren's body and kissed her, sucking on her lower lip as she pulled back.

"Check my pulse." Lauren tipped her head to the side, exposing her long neck, the softly pulsing pulse point on her throat barely visible.

The small act of submission made Bo almost falter in her small plan to be the one doing the touching tonight. With a sharp intake of air she moved her lips and began a slow exploration for the blonde's pulse point. Lauren's neck had always been something that she was obsessed with, the blonde's sensitivity to touches there fuelling Bo's passion.

"What do I do when I find it?" She asked more out of the need to judge her success from the tone of her lover's voice then any real intention to check.

"You..."Lauren's words were broken by a low aroused moan as she flexed her hips slightly in response to the pleasure of Bo's mouth on her skin, she let herself breath heavily for a long moment, just letting the pleasure fill her. "Tell me if it beating slow like I'm tired or..." She rolled her hips again pressing her ass down against the mattress. "Bo..." She closed her eyes and groaned the brunette's name thickly unable to even continue proving the point she was trying to make.

"It just sped up." Bo said the words as her tongue flicked out over sensitive skin.

"I told you I wasn't tired." Lauren was deliberately trying not to touch Bo, though this endeavour was becoming increasingly hard as all she wanted to do was thread her hands into dark hair and pull her into a hard kiss.

"I still had to check." Bo teased pulling her lips away from Lauren's skin. "I bet you're wishing you wore nothing to bed now."

"Wishing a secret succubus power was the ability to make my clothes disappear." The blonde admitted with a hurried nod.

"Let's see... I..." Bo leaned back a bit, guiding one of the blonde's legs over to meet the other. She then moved her hand to the waistband of Lauren's shorts and pulled them off her body in a slow deliberate motion. "Wish these to be gone." She tossed them off into a distant corner of the room.

Lauren made a soft moan and shifted herself, pulling the strap top from her body and let it fall off the side of the bed, where it landed on top of her blackberry.

"Make love to me Bo." She whispered dropping back against the mattress with a breathy sigh of pleasure.

Everything Bo needed in order to express her agreement was highlighted by her pushing her robe back off her shoulders, as her body pressed down fully against the blonde's. She moved back to capture Lauren's lips with her own but this time the kiss was far slower and expressive of the deep love she felt for her.

Unable to resist, Lauren wrapped her arms around her lover and pressed herself fully into the kiss. Hooking one leg over Bo's, her body arched up tight to the succubus' as she lost herself in the taste of the other woman's mouth.

Nothing could rush Bo through the long luscious series of kisses they enjoyed, their bodies just melting together as they kissed. It was a feeling the brunette could literally say was an expression of all she knew love to be. Bo's hands however had a mind of there own, and soon the left one was running up and down the outside of Lauren's leg and the right was running up her side onto her back shoulder and back again.

Lauren's hands were also acting on their own; driven by the need, the desire to touch Bo, to feel the skin of the beauty that made her feel like no one else ever had, like no one ever could. One of Lauren's hands cupped Bo's right breast, the pressure light, not wanting to press tight against the skin, more wanting to just feel the heat and softness of it in her hand. The other hand slipped around the succubus' body holding her lightly.

"Have I told you enough today how beautiful you are?" Bo questioned when they were both breathing heavy from the kiss, the full length of their bodies rocking together to their own internal music.

"I don't remember." Lauren panted lightly, her wide eyes watching every nuance of Bo's face. "Am I?"

"Yes." Bo whispered as she pressed her hips against Lauren's. "I love you." She whispered the words when their lips were only milometers apart before she kissed her again, fully intending on making true on her promise to have Lauren fall asleep exhausted from their lovemaking, wrapped in her arms.

-x-

Hours later, just before the sun was going to come up, Bo was startled awake by a strange noise. With the events of the recent weeks, underlined by the fact they were back at the clubhouse which was in the danger zone, she found her nerves back on the knife edge. Her mind of course had gone to thoughts of intruders lurking in the shadows and as she slipped away from Lauren's body and out of bed, she grabbed her grandmother's sword from nearby and began to move downstairs to confront whatever it was.

A big part of her brain prayed she would not find Dyson. Prayed she wouldn't suddenly have it proved that everything being done to help him hadn't changed the situation and the wolf was on the hunt again. So when she got to the bottom of the stairs and found Kenzi in the kitchen, the noise she had heard now clearly identifiable as the fridge being kicked closed, she took a moment to calm herself.

Kenzi, for her part was oblivious. She had on a pair of oversized DJ style headphones over her ears making it impossible for her to hear how loud she was being as she prepared whatever it was she was making herself to eat. The vague buzz of loud rock music came out of the headphones, proving how loud the young woman had the music turned up too.

Bo immediately knew she wasn't likely to get her best friend's attention so putting her sword on the island, she tentatively approached and reached out to tap Kenzi's shoulder. She jumped back immediately knowing that a startled punch could be coming at her if the younger woman was scared enough.

Kenzi did jump around, instantly holding up the spatula she was using as if it could be a weapon and took up a loose fighting stance. When she saw it was just Bo, she slowly lowered the kitchen implement and reached up to push the earphones off her head to hang around her neck.

"Bowsie." Kenzi gave her a bright smile.

"Clearly you enjoyed being on your own so much, you forgot how loud you can be. I woke up and thought we were under attack." Bo smiled back at her, showing her instantly that there was no malice in her words. She'd take a false alarm anytime over an attack. "What are you making?" She peered into the bowl.

"I'm not sure, I'm creating. I think its bacon scrambled eggs with a side of tuna." Kenzi sniffed the mixture in the bowl, making an unconvincing face that it was palatable.

"A side of tuna?" Bo screwed up her nose, pulling back immediately when she was offered to smell. "Is tuna ever meant for scrambled eggs."

"You could be right about the tuna." Kenzi moved and put the can of tuna back in the cupboard. "So do you want some?" She moved to the stove and turned the heat on under the frying pan. "What time is it anyway?" She asked absently.

"Four fifteen or something ridiculous." Bo admitted leaning against the counter, looking over to the clock. "Are you sure you're feeling okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I've even been good and didn't drink while you two were away." Kenzi nodded as she continued to mix her concoction. "I'm sorry about the loudness, I hope I didn't disturb both of you." The dark haired young woman finally poured the mixture into the frying pan, the kitchen filling with an instant sizzling noise.

"No, Lauren's still asleep." Bo continued to watch her. "Are you sure you're okay? This isn't usually a time in the morning you do, unless you are drunk or have been up all night and I know you went to bed."

"My stomach woke me up." Kenzi admitted looking at the slowly heating mixture wishing it was done already as the very part of her she spoke of twisted tightly inside her abdomen.

"I'm going to have Lauren check you for a tapeworm." Bo teased as she was overtaken by a yawn. "I'm going back to bed, enjoy your breakfast." She patted her best friend on the arm. "Try to keep it down to a dull roar."

"You're not going to share it with me?" Kenzi pouted as Bo shuffled away. "I made enough, I think." She poked at the mess in the frying pan.

"You enjoy Kenz." Bo yawned again as she picked up her sword and made her way back up to bed.

-x-

Bo found it very hard to leave the warm comfort of her bed, even though from the amount of bright light coming from the window she knew it was late in the morning, if not after mid day. The only thing that actually prompted her to move was that Lauren wasn't in the bed beside her. She pulled on some jogging pants and a loose T-shirt, instead of wrapping herself in her robe, deciding that she would take a quick run to see if she couldn't kick start her system into a more normal routine.

Jogging down the stairs, a broad smile spread across the succubus' face when she saw the blonde in the kitchen. Oddly for Lauren, her hair was up in a high pony tail, she was wearing tight Lycra shorts that clung to her ass in a way that made Bo had to make a double take. The baggy T-shirt she wore was obviously tied it in a knot around the front of her body just under her breasts. The knot made the material cinch around her upper stomach, leaving a broad swath of skin on show, skin that made Bo lick her lips.

The smell of coffee and fresh bread competed in the air of the ground floor, and it was obvious from the neat pile of utensils in the sink and the slight mess on the counter top that the doctor had been busy while Bo had slept the morning away. The smell immediately made Bo think of a the farmhouse she had grown up in and the mornings in her youth when she had awoken to similar smells of home.

"Those shorts are for my eyes only." Bo announced jumping down the last two stairs and moving straight over to hug Lauren from behind, sliding her hand over Lauren's ass softly as she did so. "Mmmm what's cooking?" She asked nestling her head next to the blonde's.

"Bread." Lauren replied with a happy smile as she leaned back against the succubus. "We had none in that wasn't a breeding ground for a multitude of bacteria that you don't want me to name and I was feeling oddly domestic." She tried to explain why she'd undertaken the project, like Bo, she was experiencing an intense feeling of 'coming home' and she wanted to prolong the emotion as long as possible.

"Is it ready? It's just I was going to go for a run..." The Succubus pointed out her own plan.

"No go, run, it's good for you." Lauren encouraged her. "It's still cooking and even then it has too cool." She turned in the loose embrace and smiled at Bo's jogging ensemble.

"You could come with." Bo grinned at her lover. "You'd have to change out of the shorts but..."

"I'll take a rain check." Lauren smiled brightly but shook her head. "I need to tidy the mess I made not to mention the mess someone else seems to have made in between us going to bed and getting up this morning."

"That was Kenzi." Bo kissed Lauren's cheek before letting her arms drop from around the blonde and crossing to the fridge. Chuckling at the blonde's look of 'who else would it have been'. "She got hungry." She took out a bottle of water. "You can refuse to wash her dishes if you like, you know to teach her to clean her own messes."

"I'm not her mother Bo." Lauren shook her head laughing softly. "And a few dishes don't both me."

"If you carry on spoiling her she's going to fall in love with you too and she'll never move out, we'll be looking after her, her string of boyfriends and seven children before we know it." Bo chuckled as she pushed her feet into her sneakers and squatted down to lace them up.

"It's a mixing bowl, a frying pan and a plate Bo, I think I'll cope. And just where would we put seven children and a myriad of Kenzi's boyfriends?" Lauren laughed brightly as she leaned her back against the work top watching her lover.

"The kiddies could have the basement, a nice integrated playroom type thing, the boyfriends? I'm not so sure, under the patio?" Bo quizzed with a laugh.

"Out." Lauren pointed to the door. "That wasn't funny." She underlined with a playful scowl.

"Hey I'm pretty sure there are links in her family with the Russian Mafia, I would be just doing what I could to protect Kenzi." Bo grinned as she finished the last knot in the laces.

"You two..." Lauren shook her head, her smile still broad but almost despite herself. "You were made for each other."

"I thought that was us?" Finished with her sneakers Bo moved back to Lauren's side.

"Have a good run." The blonde looped her arms around Bo's neck briefly and kissed her softly.

-x-


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimers: All original property is owned by Showcase, and we do not infer that any characters, creations or the concept of 'Lost Girl' are our property and the following fan fiction has been written purely for entertainment purposes only.

Pairings: Bo/Lauren Set directly after our story "Faeral", the third story in an AU plot line.

Rating: M (Contains scenes of violence, sexuality and nudity)

**Faery Tale: Chapter Four**

By: The Rainbowwriters

Mid afternoon was always quieter at the Dal than any time later, which is why Bo chose that time to go and face something she knew she needed to. She had asked both Lauren and Kenzi if they had wanted to go, but both of them had turned her down. Kenzi was feeling 'flaky' and didn't want the temptation of being surrounded by the evils of booze and Lauren had decided to tackle vacation laundry. Bo wasn't sure if that had been either woman's polite way of telling her she needed to face this on her own, which of course she couldn't blame them for.

As if knowing the succubus had arrived the instant the door opened, Trick looked up and over to the entrance, though he looked down before Bo actually walked into the Dal proper. The brunette walked straight to the bar and up onto a stool.

"Bo." Trick took a slight intake of breath as he looked up.

"I bought you a present back from my vacation." Bo reached into the inner pocket of her jacket, holding a small square wrapped gift in her hand. "I thought you might want to open it in private." She added as she slid it across the bar towards the older fae.

"Thank you for thinking of me." Trick smiled looking at it and then up at Bo. "You look rested." He added honestly, his tone showing his clear pleasure at the positive change in her.

"I feel rested." Bo nodded to his appraisal. "It's amazing what a few days away can do to help get things in perspective and you know... just help." She summed up though something in her chest still felt heavy, so much between them was unsaid, waiting for that perfect time for them to talk even if it never seemed to come. "When you're up for a chat, book me in okay?" She looked at him keeping her soft smile. "I'm not saying now, and I'm not rushing you into anything." She added quickly not wanting him to think she was cornering him. "I know that since the fight with the Garuda, you and I..." She paused and took a breath. "I want to understand Trick I really do, to understand why you believe the things you believe, think the way you do, but I also want to try and make you understand what I think and believe." She tried to make clear her long thought out appraisal of the main issue.

"Thank you." Trick openly acknowledged how much she was trying, glad that the bar was nearly empty so that he didn't feel as if they were being listened too. He didn't even have staff working as the lull was usually so significant he could tend to the way station himself. "And I want to tell you that even after talking, if we agree to disagree, I have always been and will always be your grandfather." He tried himself to express a little of what was going on in his mind and seeing the way Bo looked at him, desperate for answers, he gave a soft sigh of resignation. "I know you have many questions, but I will warn you that my answers come from my perspective alone, and it is hard to talk about some events, especially those that I deeply regret."

Bo had been very surprised that Trick had just opened up to her, even the small amount, and tried to give her insight into his mindset. If there was one thing she'd figured out in her head, it was that her grandfather was a complicated, enigmatic old fae. Even if she tried, she knew she couldn't even comprehend the things he had seen and done in all the years he had lived. In her short life, dealing with her powers had been hard enough, let alone having to deal with issues like fae wide rebellion and peace treaties.

The truth was, there was a list of questions she had in her head at any given time but at the moment she wasn't sure she wanted to push further and test her luck. After all this was going to be a long road between them, and no one question or talk was going to enlighten her to all that was the Blood King. The sheer fact that he was willingly agreeing to walk the road with her was testament to the fact that he was indeed her grandfather, and wanted them to have a relationship as much as she did. Instead of asking anything else, Bo smiled lovingly at him, silently telling him at least that she had understood the important parts of what he had said so far.

"Have you seen Dyson?" Bo finally picked another 'uncomfortable' topic to focus on.

"Yesterday." Trick gave a soft smile, a little relieved that Bo hadn't decided to jump into a deep conversation about the past at the first opportunity. He hoped their talks could occur in a more relaxed private setting, where they would both have a better chance to deal with their emotions and reactions. There was also much he wanted to tell her that shouldn't be heard by just anyone. "He is still healing, but he is back to becoming the Dyson we both know." He underlined the important information. "As I feared though, he has minimal memories of what was happening."

Bo had gone through a myriad of emotions: first being pleased that the wolf was recovering from her show of dominance; then relieved to hear that Trick believed Dyson was no longer suffering with the Buaigh Ar An Ainmhi or its affects; but the last piece of information made her knot her brow as mixed emotions swirled through her mind.

"Dyson doesn't remember that he terrorized Lauren?" Bo finally asked the question to underline her confusion.

"The Conquering is a mystical journey Bo that in all cases other than this one, is experienced while in the Great Forest. When it is complete and the shifter deemed worthy, they are allowed to leave the forest and all memories of what happened therein are wiped. Only the innate lessons learned are retained, the emotional stamp of the experience for the shifter to draw on as they embark on their new life." He had expected this might be a hard point for Bo to swallow.

"Does he remember anything?" Bo's eyebrows stayed knotted with tension, a whole new list of questions rushing forward in her mind. "Does he even know when he checked out on us? That he was checking out?"

"Dyson had no conscious warning of what was happening to him. From what Hale explained he didn't even understand how he had been injured." Trick filled in the information he had received from the Siren about the wolf's initial awakening. "When Hale explained to him what he had been doing, what he had been attempting to do to complete his Buaigh..." He held his granddaughter's still confused eyes. "He is deeply sorry and ashamed Bo."

The Succubus tried very hard to take the information that she was hearing and filter it past the instant sharp stab of pain the memories of Dyson's actions caused in her mind.

"I can't imagine how he's feeling... if he really doesn't remember." Bo was honest, trying to relax the tension in her shoulders, a task she found she couldn't accomplish so she leaned heavier against the bar top. The idea that he had awoken from her beating without any memory of the anguish and terror he had caused still causing a part of her to be dizzy with enraged confusion. After all how could he not remember using death threats against a technician in order to lure Lauren to the compound? How could he not remember the hurtful threats that had been exchanged between them?

"He was very worried about you." Trick saw her mixed emotions and tried to keep her focused on him. "And is trying to take the time necessary to fully understand what occurred while he was under the effects of the rite."

"I know this whole conquering thing wasn't his fault, that he wasn't in control but..." Bo frowned tapping her fingers soundlessly for one pass from pinky to index finger. "It was still him; the fear was still real; what he had tried to do was real. I don't know how I can look at him and not be afraid he's going to go crazy again." She admitted to her grandfather one of the big issues she was struggling with.

"The only answer to that is time." Trick frowned with her knowing how hard it was to have your faith in someone you trusted taken away by unexpected actions. "Give yourself time to learn to trust him again, he understands that what he did while under the effect of the Buaigh has created a rift between you both."

"But I know what he can do now, how the wolf inside him can act, how truly dangerous he is." Bo gave a soft shake of her head, clearly struggling with this issue on many levels.

"All fae are dangerous, in their unique way. Up until now you have never seen Dyson's powers used for anything but the greater good. While under the Buaigh Ar An Ainmhi he was using them without his usual restraints, his focus was singular and selfish." Trick tried to map out a way for Bo to look at the situation that may help her gain some perspective. "Over time you will remember what he truly is, he is a strong wolf who would never voluntarily hurt you."

"It wasn't him hurting me that I was worried about." Bo made the distinction in a quick sharp tone.

"Bo, you know that he loves you, deeply... and he understands that hurting Lauren would hurt you in ways that could never be forgiven." The Blood King's voice was soft as he tried to speak for the wolf. "And he is quite afraid that in his madness he has lost you forever, not just your trust, but your love and friendship. Dyson values you too much to ever want to risk losing you from his life completely."

"I don't want to lose him either but..." Bo sighed softly. "I just need to be sure that all of what he did wasn't motivated by how he really feels deep down inside, that if he just gets rid of Lauren then he will get back what we lost when he went to the Norn." She shook her head to the idea even as she spoke. "Because I have chosen Lauren, and I'm afraid that even if he has his love back, I don't feel the same way I used to."

"I have known the wolf for a long time." Trick admitted smiling softly at her. "He is noble and honest, I have trusted him with my life on many occasions." He gave a soft nod to his own words as memories of dangerous times flashed through his mind.

"But how can we trust he won't flip into that wild state again?" Bo voiced one of her other concerns. "It happened once, what if it happens again?"

"The combined effect the Norn and the Garuda had on him, is unprecedented." Trick shook his head to the impossible idea. "Dyson is Dyson again, thanks to you not losing faith in him." He reached out to put his hand over hers. "Give yourself time to feel that faith again."

"I'm not sure I will ever trust him completely again." Bo shook her head, expressing the fact with a sad honesty.

-x-

Lauren felt an almost ridiculously happy smile cross her face as she neatly folded up Bo's Niagara T-shirt and put it on top of one that matched it but in pale blue, on her clean laundry pile. There was a third to the set but in black and Kenzi had opted to make it her permanent sleep shirt. The whole thing was almost insanely homely, domestic, things that seemed so alien to Lauren and yet as she proved to herself as she picked up a small pile of Kenzi's things to carry them through to the younger woman's room, so easy.

Even though in some ways the blonde had dreaded coming back because the time away with Bo had been so perfect, the hours they had spent back had almost been better than the ones they had spent away. Coming back to Kenzi, had made Bo's contentment complete and it was more than obvious that the younger woman was just as happy to have the succubus back, but it went further than that. Kenzi had legitimately seemed happy to have them both back something Lauren had to admit, she wasn't sure she could have expected from the younger woman so soon. She was acutely aware of how protective Kenzi was over Bo and how in the past she believed Lauren had been the 'bad guy' in any relationship that had gone on. It was so comforting for Lauren to be faced with not words, but evidence from Kenzi that the past was the past and what mattered to them both was the present and the future.

"DOC!" Kenzi's call came through the entire clubhouse though actually where it came from was hard for the blonde to pin point. "DOC!" The cry was repeated.

The feeling of panic hit Lauren hard and fast, like a kick to the stomach cutting instantly through all feelings of comfort and calm. She dropped the small collection of underwear she was holding at Kenzi's bedroom doorway and tried to workout where the younger woman was. Clearly, she wasn't on the same floor as her, which meant that the problem, whatever it was, was on the main floor or lower.

The blonde was mid stair when another loud call made it clear that Kenzi wasn't on the main floor of the house either. That just left the basement, a level of the clubhouse that Lauren hadn't even been in. The door was ajar and the light within dim, but neither of those two things slowed the blonde down. She hurried straight through the open door and jogged down the stairs.

"Kenzi?" Lauren called out as she hurried.

"Doc." The dark haired young woman wasn't instantly visible. "Over here." A hissed whisper came from behind one of the large miscellaneous boxes that littered the floor of the basement.

"Kenzi, what are you doing?" Lauren moved over to her and was surprised when she was pulled behind the barrier to hide with the brunette. The look of confusion stayed on her face even as she crouched with Kenzi.

"There's something in here." Kenzi whispered as she looked at Lauren. The blonde finally got to look at the younger woman, noting instantly that her eyes were incredibly wide, though there was very little trace of blue in them, her pupils trying to draw in as much light as possible in the dark conditions.

"What is in here?" Lauren dropped her voice to a whisper, picking up also on the fact that Kenzi was breathing quicker than normal, and through her mouth, in fast shallow breaths.

"I don't know but I saw it, kind of and there's blood, over there, on the floor." She pointed over towards the wall.

"What did you see?" The blonde felt a cold chill go through her when she looked where Kenzi had pointed to see indeed there was a thick dark stain that could be blood. Trying to keep herself as calm as she could she forced herself to breath slowly and add some clarity to her questioning. "Tell me what happened."

"Okay well I was upstairs and there was like this noise down here, so I came down here and there was this rustling and I saw something running up the wall or something, I don't know what the hell I saw. What weapon did you bring?" Kenzi gave a typical hurried run down of what happened and then looked at Lauren expectantly.

"I didn't bring a weapon." Lauren admitted feeling for the first time a little fish out of big water. Once again she took a breath to steady herself. "We need to go upstairs and call Bo." She kept her focus logical and functional. She put her hand over Kenzi's arm to guide her towards the staircase.

As soon as Lauren's fingers touched Kenzi's arm, the doctor in her jump started. The younger woman's skin was cold, clammy and covered in patches with something sticky.

"Kenzi..." There was a hint of concern in Lauren's voice. "Is that everything that happened?"

"What? Why?" Kenzi looked first at Lauren and then at her arm where Lauren's hand still was. She reached down and trailed her own fingers over her skin bringing them up afterwards revealing the tips of them were red covered. "Oh my god, it got me..." The younger woman backed up a little away from the blonde bumping into small stack of boxes as she brushed at her arm.

"It's okay, we can deal with this." Lauren tried to keep a handle on the situation her eyes flicking to the space where apparently the 'thing' had been seen, and then back at Kenzi who was obviously not dealing with what was happening. "Come upstairs with me."

"Lauren, it got me..." Kenzi seemed almost transfixed with her arm, unaware of where she was and what she was doing, she rubbed at the thick sticky patches of blood on it. She backed up more colliding with a tall shelving unit against the wall sending two small boxes on the top of it toppling to the floor. At that moment there was a skittering sound as something moved in the shadows at the other end of the room. "Oh god..." The younger woman stopped her self examination to stare into the darkness again. "Lauren..." Her voice was high and filled with a deep level of panic.

Making a fast and concrete decision Lauren hurried to Kenzi's side slipped her hand into the younger woman's and pulled her towards the stairs.

"Kenzi, we are going upstairs." She instructed clearly, doing her best to ignore the noises and shifting in the shadows.

Lauren was more than happy when Kenzi just moved with her, rather than fighting against her in any way. She slipped behind the younger woman, not touching her, but literally willing her to move quickly up the fairly steep staircase so she could shut the door and at least get a proper look at what had happened to Kenzi.

"The couch, go sit on the couch." Lauren pointed at the worn familiar piece of furniture as she pulled the basement door closed, hurried over to the island and grabbed her cell phone. She sent off a fast '911 come home now' text off to Bo with one hand as she moved and grabbed her medical bag at the same time. Hitting send as she tossed the phone onto the coffee table, she crouched down in front of the couch putting the over sized medical bag down too and looked at Kenzi, making sure to make instant eye contact.

"I'm going to check you for injuries okay? Describe to me what you saw?" Lauren kept her voice soft and her words succinct even though in the full light of the main floor the full extent of Kenzi's bloodiness was revealed.

One of the younger woman's arms had a multitude of splashes up it, some of which extended onto the front of her shirt and even up onto her face. There was also come on her legs mainly on the lower part of her thighs.

"I don't remember." Kenzi shook her head, she was shaking quite badly as Lauren tried to assess her.

"It's okay." Lauren kept her voice soft, glancing at her briefly to make eye contact once more before beginning her exam.

The blonde easily shifted into doctor mode as she pushed up Kenzi's sleeves, checking quickly and carefully but finding no injuries on her hands or forearms. Next she checked the brunette's lower legs to find no injury there as well, finishing lastly with Kenzi's face. All and all she was only able to note one small scratch on Kenzi's chin just below her lip but it was fairly insignificant. The mark could have been made by the young woman herself with one of her own nails during the panic downstairs.

Happy at least that Kenzi hadn't been physically hurt by whatever the intruder had been, she hardly paused before ripping open a sterile wipe to begin cleaning the blood off Kenzi's body, staring with her face.

"Kenzi, it's okay, it didn't get you, it's not your blood." She said, her tone soothing but confident as she made the first gentle pass with the wipe.

"Really?" Kenzi blinked a few times and then seemed to track what Lauren was doing rather than just staring at the basement door. "I guess... I mean... I was moving around down there, trying to find out what was there..." She frowned slightly. "You can't go down there." She grabbed Lauren's arm suddenly as if struck by the idea that Lauren might suddenly attempt something.

"I'm not going anywhere near there until Bo gets home." Lauren assured her shaking her head with a soft smile. She gently disentangled Kenzi's hand from her arm and began to clean it. "Tell me what you do remember, even if it seems disjointed, just let the words come out without thinking about them."

"I..." Kenzi closed her eyes. "I... You went upstairs to do something, and I was channel hopping, and I heard something..." She frowned. "Then I... I just remember being in the basement and everything seemed to be moving and the air seemed to be filled with a sense of panic, that's when I called for you."

"Okay, just try to stay calm." Lauren kept her soothing tone and tried not to frown. Kenzi's confusion about what exactly had happened was unusual for the younger woman, who had proved many times in the past she could deal with unusual circumstances. Combined with the thought that something might well be in the basement made her wish she at the very least had an ETA on Bo.

-x-

The succubus had known that the bubble had to burst, but she hadn't expected it to happen so quickly or to do so actually at the clubhouse. She had been diving leisurely home when Lauren's text had reached her phone, which had made her panic and drive classically head long into heavy traffic.

Bo had broken numerous traffic laws and possibly the front suspension to get home in record time, only to find Lauren pacing by the island as she hurried in. Bo couldn't ever remember seeing Lauren pace, she felt her heart leap into her throat as the blonde turned and took long purposeful strides towards her.

"Bo." Lauren's voice was low and serious as she reached out towards the succubus.

"I'm sorry, traffic was a bitch." Bo put both of her hands on Lauren's forearms. "Baby..." She looked into Lauren's eyes. "What's happened?"

"I'm still trying to figure that out." Lauren shook her head quickly trying to answer honestly but succinctly. "I was upstairs, I took a shower, checked my mails, did some work on a file I was working on and had just started to sort the clean laundry, then suddenly Kenzi was screaming. At first I couldn't find her but then thanks to elimination, I tried the basement." She outlined the basics. "When I went down there I found her hiding, she said she saw something she couldn't quite describe and there was some kind of scene down there. I was going to take a closer look when I noticed..." Lauren glanced towards the main staircase. "She was covered in blood Bo. Her hands, her stomach, her lower legs. I got her up stairs and cleaned her up, but she can't tell me what happened down there."

"Blood, her blood?" Bo visibly paled while at the same time the tension in her body visibly went from five to fifty with the blonde's words. "Something down there hurt Kenzi?" Brown eyes flicked to the basement door.

"No, that is the blood wasn't hers. I cleaned her up and checked her over she doesn't have anything more than a small scratch, which honestly could have been self inflicted and doesn't even look that fresh." Lauren was quick to underline what she had managed to determine. "But something happened down there, she's confused and sketchy about details. I was upstairs at least an hour Bo, Kenzi seems to think it was more like ten maybe fifteen minutes." The blonde frowned slightly. "We need to get down there. She wouldn't let me go down there alone but I need to know what's down there, what it was that she was exposed to."

"We aren't going anywhere." Bo shook her head as she pulled off her jacket and tossed it onto the island, shaking her hair out over her shoulders. "I'll go down and search the basement and get you your answers." She summed up, her face a mask of angry irritation. "Where's Kenzi?" She checked as she moved a little closer to the closed door and then crossed back to pick up a dagger from near the coffee table.

"She's having a shower, trying to calm down and shake it off I think." Lauren frowned softly. "Bo, it's important that if you start to feel disoriented you to come back upstairs immediately, do you understand?"

"You think that whatever this is it has some kind of what... atmospheric effect?" Bo paused with her hand re-gripping the dagger hilt.

"I don't know... Bo, just please, be cautious." Lauren breathed out and kept her eyes focused on her lover.

"I will." Meeting the blonde's gaze, Bo nodded her expression softening slightly. "Do you have any idea what I'm looking for?"

"It's small enough to hide down there to the point I couldn't see anything." Lauren shook her head. "It's adapted to darkness or a least dim light conditions." She added. "Given the amount of blood splatter on Kenzi, and the coagulation I saw on the floor, it may be injured, perhaps gravely unless the blood didn't belong to it either. Kenzi didn't... couldn't recall actively 'doing' anything down there, but I didn't want to push her, you're better with Kenzi..." She frowned ever so slightly.

"It's fine, let me get down there, see what I can find." Bo turned again towards the basement. "You did the right thing." She pushed the basement door open. "You picked the wrong basement to invade whatever you are." She breathed out loudly in warning to whatever lurked below. "And most certainly the wrong time to do it."

-x-


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimers: All original property is owned by Showcase, and we do not infer that any characters, creations or the concept of 'Lost Girl' are our property and the following fan fiction has been written purely for entertainment purposes only.

Pairings: Bo/Lauren Set directly after our story "Faeral", the third story in an AU plot line.

Rating: M (Contains scenes of violence, sexuality and nudity)

**Faery Tale: Chapter Five**

By: The Rainbowwriters

Kenzi pulled on a long sleeved close fitting shirt, making sure that all of her wet hair was pulled free from it, before collecting it and tying it in a loose pony tail. She sunk down to sit on her bed not wanting to go downstairs yet, even though she was sure she had heard Bo arrive. She was sure the succubus would go straight down to investigate the basement any way, so her lingering up stairs a while longer wouldn't make any difference.

The young woman took a moment to just sit on her bed and try and reconcile what had happened. Not that it helped because everything was so confusing. Like she had said to Lauren, she had been just arbitrarily flicking through random TV channels when a noise from the basement had distracted her. She remembered going down to investigate it, or at least she thought she did, but then all she really recalled with clarity was calling for Lauren when finding herself hiding in the basement behind one of the large storage boxes. Everything else was a blur.

Kenzi rubbed the heel of her hand against her temple as much in frustration as for any other reason. It was like the more she tried to force herself to remember, the less detail she got.

With a hard sigh Kenzi pushed herself off the bed and shook out her legs and arms, as if trying to relax her body and mind at the same time, then pausing only to pick up her katana, which was laid across the top of her dresser she headed downstairs.

It didn't surprise the younger woman that she found Lauren sat at her work desk, two books lay open on the work surface in front of the blonde and she had another in her hand that she was flicking through. Lauren looked up the moment Kenzi reached the bottom step and smiled softly at her.

"Did the shower help?" She asked, her voice soft and caring.

"Warmed me up." Kenzi nodded, though she could hear the edginess in her own voice as she crossed from the bottom of the stairs to the kitchen with the intent of getting herself a drink. "I heard Bo is she..." Kenzi's eyes went to the basement door. Lauren followed the other woman's gaze and nodded. Just as she did the door swung open, making Kenzi jump back a little a gasp catching in her throat.

Bo stepped out into the main floor looking none the worse for wear but also empty handed, a hard frown etched onto her face. Her eyes went immediately to Kenzi, her frown melting into a soft look of concern and worry instantly. The succubus hurried clear of the door, put aside the dagger she was holding and moved directly over to her best friend.

"Kenzi." She said softly. "Hey." She reached out and ran her hand quickly over wet hair.

"Did you find it?" Was Kenzi's quick reply, her blue eyes slightly wider than normal as she looked past Bo to the basement door that the succubus had left open.

"No." Bo shook her head, glancing quickly over her shoulder, noting with an inner smile that Lauren had got up from her place and silently moved to pull the offending door shut. "I found a lot of blood and some fur." She summed up. "But nothing living." She shook her head and turned her focus back to her best friend. "I do not want you to go back down there, either of you." She glanced at Lauren, who was moving towards the kitchen to be closer to them both. "I'm going to give it a couple of hours and then go down there again, it might be spooked right now and hiding somewhere I can't see, or it might have left..." She hypothesized. "I want to give it some time to see if it stops being as careful." She explained her plan.

"I was taking a look at some of the books I brought over from my place, narrowing down a list of possible underfae, but it may take me a little while." Lauren offered an explanation of what she had been doing, but it was pretty obvious to both Bo and Kenzi that this is what the blonde had been doing. "Fur? You said there was traces of fur down there? Can you remember what colour?" She pulled a pen out from where it had been tucked in the hair behind her ear and looked at Bo expectantly.

"I think it was brown." The succubus glanced at her lover who scribbled something on the back of her hand in blue ink with the pen. "When I go back down I'll bring some back with me, I'll even get you a blood sample." She added what she knew would be another request from the blonde.

"Thank you." Lauren gave her a brief smile.

"Just to underline I don't want anyone near the basement until I go back down there." Bo strode back to the door and moved the large heavy weapons chest to stand in front of it, effectively blocking the entrance. "Clear?" She glanced at Lauren and Kenzi who both nodded.

Lauren lingered for a moment and then looked at Bo subtly looked at Kenzi as a soft hint to her lover that she needed to work a little best friend magic. With a soft smile at her lover the blonde moved back towards her desk.

"Hey..." Bo watched Lauren go and then stepped up closer to Kenzi.

"Don't." The younger woman shook her head and stepped a little to the side out of reach of the hand that Bo was reaching towards her. "I know what you're going to say and it's not true so I don't want to hear it."

"Sorry?" Bo stopped her forward progress towards her best friend with a frown.

"You're going to tell me it's okay." Kenzi turned her back to Bo and moved to the fridge.

"Well yes I was because it is." The succubus felt a frown creep across her brow as she watched Kenzi take the juice out of the fridge and put it on the side.

"No it's not." Kenzi stopped and turned. "I freaked out down there Bo. Really freaked out and I can't even remember why. In fact I can't remember anything about it." Kenzi's tone was high and stressed.

"Kenz don't you think you're being a little hard on yourself?" Bo asked, her tone soothing, "With all that's gone on recently?" She tried to get Kenzi to wide her focus slightly, "Stop forcing everything and being hard on yourself." She edged a little closer.

"Bo you didn't see me, it wasn't like I had a spot of blood on my shirt," Kenzi looked at her best friend, gripping her arms around her body harder. "There was blood everywhere, I didn't even feel it on my own skin." She felt a cold shiver run up her spine. "How can I not remember how it got there?"

"Because you were freaked out, it will come back to you." Bo kept her voice calm as she moved up close to Kenzi and reached out putting her hand on her best friends arm. "Kenzi believe me, it's happened to me. Hell it happened to me all the time before I knew what I was, maybe not with blood but believe me, lots of times I would find myself somewhere in really bad places and situations and remember how I got there or what happened." She rubbed her arm over Kenzi's arm.

"Huge difference Bo." Kenzi shook her head not looking at her.

"Really?" Bo refused to back down. "We've all been on high alert Kenz, Lauren and I had a vacation. We got away from it, you didn't." She pointed out. "I think maybe we all underestimated how stressed you got." She frowned softly feeling suddenly guilty. "I think my bff needs some spoiling." She tried to catch her best friend's eye.

"Don't alright." Kenzi pulled away, "You and the doc needed the break, I... I just want to forget about it." Kenzi shook her head, not meeting Bo's eyes.

Bo felt her heart sink a little at the distance Kenzi forced between them.

"Kenzi." Bo didn't force them any closer but she did continue to look at her best friend. "Okay." She breathed out nodding. "Because you know what, that damn thing can live down there for all I care as long as it doesn't hurt you or Lauren." She reached out and twisted her finger into Kenzi's long wet pony tail. "Because that I won't stand for." She underlined. "All that matters to me is you being safe and well and happy." She said her voice full of understanding and love.

Finally Kenzi looked up into Bo's eyes, she stepped forward and pressed herself into Bo's arms. The succubus enclosing her in a tight embrace, her eyes closing as she closed her arms around her best friend's back.

"I just want to remember what happened." Kenzi admitted as she clung to Bo tightly.

"You will." The succubus rubbed her best friends back lightly, "Don't force it. I'll be here when you do, and I'll be ready to take out what scared you. I'm here for you Kenzi, I always will be." Bo vowed seriously.

-x-

Bo's second venture into the basement had been as unproductive as the first. Whatever it was that had caused the earlier disturbance had well and truly gone underground and left behind little or no trace other than the blood and fur remnants that Bo and scraped up into baggies or onto the ends of cotton swabs and deposited into small tubes for Lauren.

The succubus had moved more or less everything in the basement, even if it was just a shimmy to the left or right to look behind it to check there was no way on earth there could be anything hiding in a crevice or there wasn't a huge hole or gateway to another universe in the basement that she had previously missed. So by the end of the second, more thorough sweep of the area Bo felt slightly despondent and downhearted. She had wanted to find something that would give her a lead of some kind, even if it had been something crazy fae related, something was always better than nothing.

Dragging the heavy weapons chest back in front of the door as she closed it, Bo sighed and shook her head moving to wrap the short length of thick wire Lauren had found around the two nails the doctor had had Bo hammer into the door and the door frame to fashion an add-hock type lock as a second level of security for the door.

"I'm beginning to know what that body language means." Lauren commented from her place at her desk.

"Someone's messing with my family and I'm not happy?" Bo offered in quick response as she crossed the short distance to drop her short sword on Lauren's desk, careful to avoid the books Lauren was working through.

"More specifically you're not getting any where with the thing that is messing with your family." Lauren pointed out using the word Bo had with a gentle, happy smile despite the situation.

"Are you?" Bo asked dropped the bag of bloody fur and the little bottle of bloody cotton swab on the desk. "Present." She added.

"Not really, oh, thank you." She reached for them, immediately holding the fur up under the desk lamp.

"Is Kenzi still lying down?" Bo picked up a pen from off the desk and played with it absently. Lauren nodded with a soft sigh. "We should have taken her." Bo tossed the pen on to the desk top in frustration. "I can be so selfish." She pushed off from where she was perched on the corner. "I was just thinking about you and me and..."

"Bo... Bo..." Lauren pushed up off her chair and moved after her lover. "It's allowed. You're allowed to be selfish. We're allowed to be selfish." She lightly reached to turn Bo's face towards her. "We needed, I needed..." She stressed the words. "Time away with you after all that had happened. This didn't happen to Kenzi because we went away."

Bo took a moment, as always steadied and calmed by the soft brown eyes that looked at her, she took a long slow breath and blinked.

"You're right." She acknowledged the blonde's logic softly and Lauren nodded.

"And we will find out what did this, what happened." She added encouragingly turning to glance at the kitchen clock seeing that it was close to six thirty. "Now why don't you go..." The blonde was stopped by the soft chime of her cell phone. "Hold that thought." She back tracked to the desk while Bo moved to drop down onto the couch.

The succubus had barely had the chance to put the television on when Lauren came back over to join her.

"Sorry." Lauren apologized with a soft frown. "I really hate to do this, but I... I have to go."

"What?" Bo turned to look at her shocked by the idea. "Why? And where?"

"The compound, well the lab to be more precise." Lauren explained quickly. "Something big has come up, Hale has asked for my input." She passed Bo her cell phone where the message from Hale was up on the screen.

"I'm calling Hale to confirm this." Bo took the phone though she didn't bother reading the message on the screen, she just instantly dialled the Ash's number. As she did so Lauren moved to get her medical bag and a pair of boots. Pushing her feet into them as Bo talked to Hale in the background.

When Bo ended the call and looked up Lauren was just finishing pulling on her jacket.

"Whoa." Bo put up her hand, her mind racing a mile a minute. "Er..." She tried to think things in to focus because although she had spoken to Hale and yes, he had asked for Lauren's assistance, which meant that it wasn't Lauren walking into some terrible trap or anything, it was still Lauren leaving, and still fundamentally Lauren walking into the same place that Dyson was. "I'll come with you, in fact I'll go get Kenzi, we'll call come with you." She offered.

"Bo, I'm going to work." Lauren at the succubus and moved to tuck her hair behind her ear. "I know the timing is unfortunate but..." She stopped. "Depending on what I find when I get there I don't know for sure when I'll be home, if it get's too late, I'll just stay at the compound."

"No... no." Bo shook her head immediately another wrench being thrown into her overworking mind. "Staying at the compound is not a good thing. Call me, whenever I'll come and get you, time is irrelevant."

Lauren watched as Bo seemed to short circuit.

"Bo..." She walked back the short distance to her lover. "I am going to the lab to work, nothing else, if it get's too late, it is both safer and more sensible for me and you if I stay in one of the more than suitable accommodation units on-site." She said with her hand on the succubus' arm. "This is what I do remember?" She smiled softly, moving her hand to cup Bo's cheek softly.

"I know it's just..." Bo finally managed to calm the raging torrent of noise in her head.

"I know." Lauren nodded. " Spend some time with Kenzi." The blonde encouraged. "Take her out, go to the movies, go clubbing." She made a few suggestions. "Spend some bff time. It would be good for her, and good for you." She added. "It's been seventeen days since your last treatment and four days since your last feed." The blonde softly pointed out.

"Does that big brain of yours ever stop?" Bo smiled lovingly at her lover.

"When it comes to thinking and worrying about you?" Lauren looked back at Bo. "No." She shook her head and bent down to pick up her over sized medical bag. "Think about my suggestion at least." She leaned in and pressed her lips to Bo's cheek.

"I love you." Bo's said with utter conviction as she let Lauren pull back watching as the blonde nodded and moved to the door.

-x-

Kenzi had been lying on her bed staring at the ceiling trying hard to not think about why she couldn't remember what had happened, and ultimately doing nothing but think about it. She knew she had herself wound up, though she didn't realize just how tightly until the front door downstairs closed and just jumped up off the bed and hurried to her bedroom door.

"Bo?" She called down from the landing.

"What's wrong Kenzi?" Bo back stepped enough to look up at her best friend.

"I just... I thought I heard the front door." The younger woman frowned and then moved to wander down the stairs.

"You did, Lauren got called into the Lab, a light fae turned up dead in dark fae territory, Hale needs her to take a look at the body, get her opinion on COD and a few other things." Bo explained as she moved back to sit on the couch.

"Oh right." Kenzi glanced at the door and then came to sit down on the couch too, sitting there almost uncomfortably for a moment before looking over her shoulder at the barred off door. "Find anything second time around?" She asked, trying to make the question sound casual, but she knew she had failed.

"Not really, I got Lauren a couple of samples, which typically she seemed excited about." Bo gave a smile. "Kenzi..." Bo turned to look more at her best friend. "If you don't feel safe here you know we can find somewhere else, somewhere..."

"No..." Kenzi cut her off. "No it's not that, I feel safe here." She underlined immediately. Then realizing it may have sounded a little too immediate she relaxed her shoulders and smiled, "I really do, who wouldn't with a half tonne weapons crate and Lauren's MacGyver style lock in place, not to mention a personal succubus body guard." She grinned a little more. "I just need to chillax about it."

"You don't have to be okay about it." Bo made sure that her best friend understood the situation completely.

"I know but I am." Kenzi nodded convincingly her blue eyes looking at Bo and narrowing slightly, "Okay what am I missing?" She added in her usual Kenzi way.

"What do you mean?" Bo shook her head and gave a soft roll of her shoulders.

"What's wrong with my Bo-Bo?" Kenzi shifted positions, all of her preoccupation sliding aside momentarily as she focused on the shadow behind Bo's smile.

"Nothing." The succubus tried a little harder to deny it.

"Pu-leease." Kenzi rolled the word on her tongue. "I may not remember dark and dank nasty in the basement, but I do remember unhappy bestie face, and I am looking at it." She folded her arms across her chest. "Cough it up." Happy to make Bo the centre of questioning.

"Lauren had to go back to the lab, Dyson is at the lab. And I know he's in a secure room and I know he's better but..." Bo breathed out and Kenzi smiled a little as she looked at the succubus.

"But she's your girl and when she's not right there where you can see her, you get scared." She offered the assessment.

"Right." Bo admitted with a smile at her best friend. "And not just that, I spoke to Trick earlier today, he's seen Dyson." She looked away a little.

"And?" Kenzi pushed.

"Apparently physically he's healing well but..." Bo paused being her head back to look at Kenzi. "He doesn't remember anything about what happened, nothing since before the coronation."

"What?" Kenzi blinked blue eyes at her best friend, the news obviously as shocking to her as it had been to the succubus.

"Everything since the Garuda is patchy at for him at best." Bo nodded completely understanding Kenzi's reaction.

"I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad one." Kenzi admitted as she leaned back a little against the cushions.

"I know and it totally throws me for a loop when I try and think how I am supposed to judge him or react to him." Bo admitted, happy to be able to talk to Kenzi about this, because if there was one person in the whole world she trusted, it was the young woman beside her.

"Just because he doesn't remember, doesn't mean it didn't happen." Kenzi said, her voice quiet as she looked at Bo. "Are you going to go see him?" She asked the all important question.

"I had planned to, but that was before I knew that he didn't remember any of it." Bo summed up one of her many issues. "It just makes it so much harder." She sighed. "It makes me feel like I have no right at all to be angry, I mean I didn't feel like I had much in the first place because he couldn't help it but now I don't feel like I have any." She breathed out hard.

"This is a hard play." Kenzi looked at her sadly. "I mean on one hand he's back to being the Dyson we all know and love, but on the other hand he did make our lives a living hell for a week while he played stalk-aratzi with the Doc. You have to be honest with him Bo." She summed up finally. "He's got a lot to make up for but he deserves the chance to make it up since he wasn't in control."

"I know and just when I think I'm getting on top of it, and I have it under control, something happens, like Lauren announcing she has to go to the lab to work and I lose it again. My mind flips to a crazy place and all of the anger and fear about what happened, about what he did, what he could do is right there." Bo tried to explain how overwhelming the feelings were. "Even though I know it wasn't him, wasn't his fault." Bo breathed out. "And knowing now he doesn't remember it I have this new worry, this new voice that says he can't even think to himself oh look there's a warning sign, there's that feeling that I had last time when it all went to a bad place." Bo put both her hands up to the sides of her face. "I knew this whole Dyson thing wasn't going to be just over Kenz, but I thought it would be easier than this." She admitted breathing as she let her hands and her shoulders drop looser.

"Welcome home eh?" Kenzi frowned slightly and Bo looked at the younger woman with a soft uneven smile.

"No, that is yes, it's good to be home, I want to be here." She stressed reaching the small distance across the couch to put her hand over Kenzi's "This is where it feels right to be, I just wish everything else would let me just enjoy the feeling for a while." She admitted, her smiling getting a little broader as she looked at her best friend. "You know what." She added. "Lauren suggested you and I go out on the town, what do you think?"

Kenzi quirked her eyebrow a little as she looked back at her bestie.

"Really? Hotpants want's you out partying the night away with me?" She laughed shaking her head. "Let's go girl." Kenzi inched towards the edge of the couch, using their joined hands to pull at Bo. "I feel the need for some serious booty shaking." She tried her best to push away any worry of earlier in the day and just do as Bo was suggesting, chalk it up to something 'fae' and that she would remember it in time.

-x-

**Authors note : Hi everyone - thank you so much for the great welcome back :) just wanted to make a quick appearance to say hi and thank you and to make a quick story point - that being that our series began after canon episode 2:21 and deviated from that point on - Kenzi's norn 'rash' appeared in canon episode 2:22 - and therefore for those wondering why Lauren 'missed' it in our story - the answer is simple - it's not there and never has been in our universe to be seen :) **


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimers: All original property is owned by Showcase, and we do not infer that any characters, creations or the concept of 'Lost Girl' are our property and the following fan fiction has been written purely for entertainment purposes only.

Pairings: Bo/Lauren Set directly after our story "Faeral", the third story in an AU plot line.

Rating: M (Contains scenes of violence, sexuality and nudity)

**Faery Tale: Chapter Six**

By: The Rainbowwriters

If one thing always amazed Bo, it was Kenzi's mental resilience and tonight she was giving a master clinic. Even though mere hours before she had been petrified by whatever she had encountered in the basement, Kenzi had instantly focused on the idea of going out with her best friend and put all her mental energy into planning everything from their outfits to the club they were going to grace with their presence.

The Succubus had found herself in a slightly aggressive 'power' outfit, as Kenzi had dubbed it. The sleeveless, high necked black Lycra top clung to ever inch of her upper body. The small grouping of white spray painted star bursts sat aloft her breasts, and then led down her stomach to the equally tight black leather pants she had coaxed her body into.

In contrast, Kenzi had gone with one of her wilder ensembles. Choosing a dark navy long haired wig, the Lycra cat suit she wore would have revealed everything be it for the small black kilt and an overlay navy leather vest which hid anything that should be left up to the imagination.

Club Radiance had only been open a few weeks, and so the shiny new car smell still permeated everything when Bo had charmed their way past the long line up as any VIP's would expect to be treated. It was one of those 'naughty' uses of her power that she really didn't have much trouble coming to terms with. After all did it really matter if they bypassed a line up into an overpriced media-hyped club which was likely to close in less then six months anyway? In the greater scheme of things, Bo had decided it was hardly a crime against humanity and more importantly being treated like an A-Lister always made Kenzi happy. Her whole night right now was about making Kenzi happy and helping her forget what she had gone through earlier in the day.

The club itself was a large open warehouse concept, but great pains had been taken to give it the facade of an upscale ballroom of sorts. The walls covered in ornate illuminating sculptures that pulsed and flickered with whatever fast music was making the floor bounce under everyone's feet. No expense it seemed had been spared for either the laser displays above their heads, or the high tech speakers that made sure every inch of the club was drowned by the artful noise of their 'guest' DJ.

As far as Bo had counted the younger woman was pacing her drinking but she seemed, what was the word the succubus wanted... 'merry'. Kenzi had already deserted her twice to head onto the dance floor for favourite songs, always having a different young man come to join her and enjoy her enthusiasm for the music.

Her appraisal of 'merry' had been challenged when her best friend's third disappearance into the crowd resulted in Bo suddenly having her attention called to a elevated side stage where she found Kenzi had been picked to 'hose' down some of the club's male dancers in homage to a song that was being played. Bo had heard it numerous times on the radio while they'd been away, it was the newest party anthem of sorts as it called for 'wet and wild' times all night long, making the club's gratuitous display somewhat expected.

"Woo Bo-Bo this place is fine." Kenzi shimmied her way back to where Bo had remained by the bar when the song finally finished and her services were no longer needed. "How come you haven't got your eats on yet?" She added when she got a little closer, picking up a shot glass that she presumed was hers that was sat by Bo's elbow, downing it instantly. "Or did I miss it?"

"Were you really paying attention to anything other than wet dancers?" Bo teased back avoiding the issue for a moment.

"I was sizing up portions for you." Kenzi grinned and leaned against the bar next to her. "Really, no one looks yummy?"

"I just..." Bo glanced around at the crowd they were in the middle of and sighed. "I can't keep from obsessing about the fact Lauren is at the compound, where Dyson is." She admitted with a deep frown. "Kills my appetite."

"Oh come on, you've had confirmation that everything is hunky dory with the wolf man, Hale actually did call Dr. Hotpants in to do that work thing she's so very good at, and the same doctor ordered you to get your fae on you told me." Kenzi looked at her sideways with a sympathetic but encouraging smile. "It's time to think about you and that appetite of yours." She hip checked her best friend lightly wanting her to see it was okay to do her thing. "What's got your fancy tonight? Girl? Boy? Both?" She pushed making her own appraisal of the choices before them. "All you can eat buffet?" She looked over to where there was a mixed group of obvious friends dancing together.

"I just have to do it don't I?" Bo sighed taking a sip from her almost warm beer, it was the second one she'd tried to nurse since they'd arrived. She'd abandoned the first when it had been in her hand long enough to go to room temperature only half drank.

"Hold on a minute." Kenzi put her hand on Bo's arm, turning to focus on the brunette. "Is this so much worry about the D-man and Lauren... as say lunch time performance jitters?" She looked at her best friend, blinking wide blue eyes.

"It's both." Bo knew there was no point trying to ignore what Kenzi could already read from her. After all Kenzi knew her 'habits' more intimately then anyone. "Lauren is there, with him nearby, when only days ago he was trying to..." She didn't finish the whole thought knowing it wasn't necessary to say it again. "And here I am thinking about eating."

"Then just focus on 'feed' not 'fuck'... pardon my french." Kenzi held up her hands in defence immediately when she saw Bo's sharp reaction. "You don't need to have sex with them to feed Bo, just grab a couple of lusty boys and suck their faces off." She shrugged summing up the simplicity of the situation as she saw it. Bo raised an eyebrow at her choice of words but knew that her friend meant nothing 'dire' by the phrase even if she could literally do as described. "You're more in control of your powers then ever." She reminded Bo more seriously. "You can take a taste from whoever you need until you're full, no harm done to anyone."

"You're right... even Lauren pointed out that I need to feed." Bo took a deep breath and put her beer down on the bar top, more seriously appraising her choices. "Sometimes I just hate being what I am." She admitted in a softer voice that was almost lost in the loud music.

"Why? You are what you are babe, you should just tap into it and enjoy it." Kenzi assured her and leaned her back against the bar looking around with her best friend. "Oh, oh, him." She nodded with her head across to a tall rather dorky looking guy who was doing moves similar to Night Fever on the dance floor. Bo gave her 'the look' but Kenzi shook her head. "Come on, he's not going to have been tapped like FOREVER, there's going to be so much latent sexual energy stored up in there."

"You're right." Bo stared at him a moment more and finally talked herself around. "It's not about visual quality, just food. It's just about the chi." She began to psych herself up and it took one final light push from Kenzi to get her moving.

With her succubus confidence in hand, she made a direct line to him and stopped directly in front of the unsuspecting dancer to let him look at her for a moment before she began to dance herself. Clearly unable to believe his luck, he seemed stalled by the fact that possibly the most beautiful woman in the club was not only near him but seemed to be trying to get his attention. Bo's effort was quickly rewarded as he immediately moved to begin dancing inappropriately close to her.

Despite how easy it had been to get his undivided attention, Bo didn't want to drag this out any longer then the situation needed.

'After all you are just feeding.' She repeated the mantra in her head as she reached out to touch his chin with her fingers, instantly using her powers of persuasion to lead him over to a dark corner. They were out of sight for less than a minute before Bo came swaggering back into the bright lights of the club.

"You were right, he was... untapped." Bo had to make the admission as she arrived back next to Kenzi and ordered herself a new beer. "And even though I wanted to argue, Lauren was right, I was hungry." She looked at her best friend and a soft flash of blue sat over her dark eyes for a moment.

"See you need to trust the women in your life more, the one who tugs your heart strings and the one in control of lower regions. Denote us as applicable." Kenzi slung her arm around Bo's shoulder, actually very happy that her bestie had gotten back on the Succubus horse so to speak. "Now get me another." She made her empty shot glass do a little dance for the succubus.

"I thought you decided last time that you were going to go easy on the firewater. Remember how you felt in the morning?" Bo warned her softly.

"I've suffered a traumatic experience today." She pointed at herself staring between Bo and the empty glass. "You don't think I deserve sex on the beach?"

"Okay, okay." Bo took the shot glass from her and turned signalling the bartender for another two shots.

-x-

The first time that Bo had brought Kenzi to the clubhouse, she'd been carrying the unconscious young woman, having just saved her and brought her back there for reasons Bo still didn't really understand. Since then there had been a few 'party' nights, when she had ended up doing the same thing and each time she'd found herself remembering back to the beginnings of their friendship.

Tonight though, as she half carried and half guided her intoxicated best friend out of the cab and into the house, she found herself struggling a bit to do what she'd always found easy. Kenzi at the best of times felt like you were carrying a small child in weight, even if her limbs could be a little harder to deal with then a sleeping five year old. Right now, Bo conceded to herself, as she finally got them through the front door, trying to carry Kenzi felt more like she was trying to carry Dyson then her featherweight bestie. Kenzi's body feeling heavy and solid in the Succubus' arms as they moved down the hallway.

"You just have to make it to the couch." Bo urged when high heeled boots stopped helping her and she half dragged her the last few feet, letting the smaller woman fall onto the cushions. "Whoa, stay on the couch." She had to move quickly to keep Kenzi from rolling off it as she laughed about something only the drunk woman seemed to find interesting. "I swear you've run out of that alcohol tolerance you claimed runs in your family."

"Heresy." Kenzi spat at her in mock disgust before she turned her head and bellowed at the stairs. It was clear from the volume she used that the loud music of the club had effected her hearing. "LOLA, LOLA GET YOUR HOT ASS DOWN HERE."

"Who is Lola?" Bo sat on the coffee table, shaking her head with an amused laugh as she began to undo one of Kenzi's boots, not wanting her to put the pin heel through the material of the couch.

"Lolabell. Your..." Kenzi wiggled her fingers vaguely pointing in Bo's direction. "Woman." She burped and then giggled at herself. "The bun in your oven."

"Well if she was asleep, she isn't anymore." Bo looked with a sense of hope and anticipation at the stairs but as moments passed she began to doubt the blonde had even come back to the clubhouse. With a soft sigh, she moved to undo Kenzi's other boot. "You know just because I eat a few guys doesn't mean that their lovesick asses have to buy you drinks, right?"

"I can't help it that you chose the generous ones." Kenzi shook her head so much she put up her hand to her forehead to stop the motion. "And I swear it wasn't a set up, I didn't tell them to hit on you prior to them doing so in exchange for shots." She gave Bo a drunken smile.

"You're lucky I can't stay mad at you." Bo smiled back at her. "Now are you going to flunk out here or do you want to be carried upstairs?"

"I need Mr. Kickers." Kenzi pointed to the stairs as she pulled off her blue wig and threw it on the coffee table. "If I stay here, that stuffed Roo has magic powers."

"Don't say that too loud or the elders will make him choose a side." Bo ruffled Kenzi's bangs as she headed up the stairs.

As she passed by the door to the basement, she made a quick assessment that the trunk hadn't been disturbed and the MacGyver lock was still intact. Only when she was confident nothing had come up into the house from the basement did she head up the stairs.

A brief check in her room proved that Lauren wasn't back curled up in bed waiting for her. Despite herself she'd been secretly hoping all night for that ending, but a more realistic part of her had known from the moment Lauren had mentioned she might stay at the compound there was a good chance she would. After all Hale's explanation of what had happened made it clear that he needed answers about what one of his light fae was doing in dark fae territory to get himself killed sooner then later, and those answers likely would start with what information Lauren could provide him about the death.

Trying to keep relaxed and not obsess too much, Bo went into Kenzi's bedroom and walked across the deep mess on the younger woman's floor to find the small kangaroo tangled within the bedclothes and carried him back downstairs.

"This body must have been serious, Lolabell isn't back." Bo caught herself using the ridiculous nick name and smiled to herself knowing how contagious Kenzi's quirks could be.

"You should call her." Kenzi leaned up a little holding out the remote control for the TV towards her.

"I will, try to go to sleep before the spinning starts again." Bo urged her taking it in exchange for Mr. Kickers and immediately putting it down on the island. By the time she'd turned back, Kenzi had curled up into a foetal position on the couch with the stuffed kangaroo under her chin.

Bo pulled her phone out of her jacket pocket, but before dialling the doctor's number she used it to take a picture of Kenzi on the couch. Sometime in the future she knew it would make great blackmail material. Happy with the cute shot, she finally hit the speed dial for Lauren's number. The nervous part of her was anxious for her lover to pick up, just to confirm the doctor was okay even if ultimately she would be confirming that Lauren wasn't coming back to the clubhouse.

"Bo." Lauren picked up after two rings, she sounded a little distracted by her work but pleased to hear from the succubus. "Hi... I was meaning to call you but I'm elbow deep in samples and my tissue culture EPI Fluorescent microscope is giving me an operation error code. "

"We got back from the club and you weren't home." Bo spelled out the reason for her call, surprised how much 'science distraction' in Lauren's voice could calm her nerves. The mention of a microscope meant everything at the lab must be running 'Dyson' free. "Did this body turn up something you need help on?"

"I was going to update you, the body... turned into three bodies." The blonde could almost be heard on the other end breathing out hard in frustration. "Seems in the panic to get them back into light fae territory that fact got misconstrued."

"Wow three, that's big, you should have called." Bo instantly began to worry what must have happened to result in three dead, after all Hale had implied from the start that foul play was involved. The fact that the scene of the crime was in dark fae territory was only going to make things harder to figure out. "Anything I can start looking into?"

"Not now but maybe in the morning, once I can get a better picture of what happened to them." Lauren's answer was quick but her next question was asked in a softer, more relaxed tone. "How was the club?"

"It was good, Kenzi is drunk and before you ask I only had two beers but I did do as the doctor ordered." Bo admitted with a smile that could be heard in her voice.

"Good." The blonde's real happiness with this fact was evident in her tone. "You needed to feed Bo." She added wanting to show the succubus that she did understand that her 'fae' nature was as biologically necessary as a human like herself getting food and water. "Was it... okay?" She asked somewhat awkwardly, having picked up from her lover some apprehension about the idea.

"It satiated my hunger, it couldn't have been okay cause it wasn't you." Bo turned the question around to underline what she herself knew was important. She had done what she needed to do, but it hadn't been anything personal and most definitely nothing like making love to Lauren.

"I wish I could make it back to the clubhouse tonight but I don't think I can." Lauren's voice dropped to a really low whisper. "I've got the autopsies done but there are a whole list of tests I need to run on the tissue samples..." She let her explanation trail off knowing that Bo had already heard about her microscope issues.

"It's okay, you have important work to do, I know you'd be back if you could... that means a lot." Bo was honest and tried to respond to the regret she could hear in Lauren's voice. "Make Hale give you one of the nice rooms to get some sleep in, because you do need sleep super doctor."

"I will." Lauren's voice gave away that the blonde was smiling as she answered, and there came a long pause before Lauren spoke again. "I checked on Dyson's results and papers." She said softly but clearly enough to be sure Bo heard her the first time.

"I thought we agreed you were going to avoid getting involved in his case, that you didn't need to be involved in it." Bo felt her body tense a little at the news. "You didn't see him did you?" She tried to keep her voice from showing her instant concern.

"No." Lauren confirmed that fact at least. "And we did agree but that was before..." She stopped and restarted again with a soft breath. "Bo, I know how worried you are about him." She admitted. "His results are good, his hormone levels are right where I had projected they should be." She gave the succubus the information quickly, "I just wanted you to worry less, medically at least, his overall chemistry is normalizing and he's healing well." She gave the assessment clearly.

"I'm... I mean I'm glad I didn't break him permanently." Bo didn't even realize she was letting out a breath that she'd been holding. She hesitated another moment before she spoke again. "Thank you for checking, you're amazing you know that right? After all he did..." She didn't bother rehashing it all, she knew Lauren was more aware than any of them of what she had gone through. "You're amazing." She reiterated the simple fact.

"So are you." Lauren returned the compliment gently. "Sleep safe." She added as an electronic alarm started to sound sharply behind her words.

"You know you're leaving me in a tight spot if you're not home, drunk Kenzi is going to insist on sleeping up in bed with me." Bo tried to keep the end to the conversation light as she felt it coming. After all every minute Lauren wasn't working meant more minutes she would have to stay up making up for the time and ultimately that wasn't what Bo wanted.

"You like it really, she brings out your maternal instinct." Lauren actually chuckled, unable to believe sometimes that the two women weren't actually sisters. "I would say kiss her goodnight from me, but that would be..."

"Don't worry Lolabell, she was already looking for you when we got home." Bo tried to reassure the blonde that she was missed by both of them.

"Lolabell? Do I even want to know?" Again Lauren chuckled trying to think of why the younger woman would come up with that 'nickname' for her. "Take her to bed, the 'cat pee' tea is in the second drawer of my desk if she needs it in the morning."

-x-

Sleep had come quicker than Bo had anticipated once they had finally made it upstairs. Moving Kenzi from her spot on the couch had turned out to be easier then she'd anticipated, as the younger woman was suddenly obsessed with the need to get out of the cat suit she was wearing as she expressed how she felt like a lollipop in a plastic wrapper. Bo hadn't even tried to make sense of the simile, and just dutifully helped Kenzi upstairs and into her new Niagara Falls sleep shirt with a pair of light cotton pants.

The willingness of Bo's body and mind to drift off so quickly, had probably had a lot to do with the familiarity of the small body asleep next to her. A body that stole the covers at the first opportunity and snored in a tone Bo was sure should only come from sleeping smurfs or some other cartoon character.

Hours later, the first thing Bo became aware of was that there was a pressure against her chest making it harder than normal to breathe. She was definitely on her back and as she came more consciously aware of herself, she could feel boney knees pressing down on her forearms pinning her arms to the mattress either side of her body.

Opening her eyes, almost afraid of what fae creature she was going to find attacking her in her sleep, Bo was shocked to see in fact it wasn't a fae but Kenzi who was straddled over her ribcage and holding her arms down.

Her first response would normally have been to crack a joke, pointing out to Kenzi how 'not-hetero' she was being but as she began to focus more on the young woman's features something inside Bo turned to ice.

Though the bedroom was just beginning to see slivers of the dawn breaking outside, the short distance between them made her able to make out that Kenzi's face was pale and drawn, dark circles ringing her eyes and black sallows highlighted her already high cheek bones. Most disturbing was that Kenzi's normally blue eyes seemed rolled back in her head as she stared at Bo's face, thick loud slurry breaths coming from her open mouth.

"Kenzi? Kenzi!" Bo said the other woman's name in increasingly loud repetitions, trying to make some sense out of what was going on. The first logical thing that struck her was that somehow Kenzi was still asleep, that she was sleepwalking or sleep straddling as it were. "Kenzi wake up." She said louder when her best friend didn't move or even blink.

Finally Bo tried to wiggle under Kenzi's body, planning on first freeing her arms and then moving the smaller woman off her but the heavy weight on top of her didn't budge. She tried to shake Kenzi awake in some way, using more and more of her strength, starting to feel more afraid of what might be going on as she was forced to admit she couldn't budge her best friend.

"KENZI!" Bo yelled her name in a loud sharp tone, one that echoed through the empty club house.

Finally Kenzi's whole body jumped, briefly releasing the pressure on Bo's arms, but only for a millisecond, before with a grunt, Kenzi literally sprawled on top of Bo's body almost like a marionette who had had all of their strings cut at the same time.

Bo had been just as shocked by the flop of Kenzi's body against her, but as soon as she found she could move, she rolled the smaller woman off her to the other side of the bed.

"Kenzi, come on now, that was freaky." Bo urged the younger woman, patting her cheek trying to get her to reconnect to the world. "Kenzi, wake up."

"Bo?" Finally Kenzi's eyes closed and then blinked back open, this time the more recognizable blue looking back at her. "Wh... What? When did we get home?" She asked squinting at the succubus.

"Hours ago... I just woke up with you pinning me down doing an impression of a zombie extra on The Walking Dead. Do you remember anything?" Bo reached and turned on the bedside lamp to give the room some low light other than the beginnings of the dawn.

"Hey, hey was that really necessary." Kenzi put her hand up trying to cover her eyes immediately. "And I think someone was having sex dreams, which is no excuse for waking up their bestie." She poked Bo's shoulder.

"No listen, I wasn't the one on top of you, you were on top of me, so unless that is your weird way of saying you were having a sex dream..." Bo stared at her trying to put the events in order but finding the mix of adrenaline and residual sleepiness causing confusion in her brain. "Do you feel okay?" She checked unable to wipe the view of Kenzi's pale face from her mind.

"No, I feel like I've just been woken up, I feel hung over, maybe still drunk and I feel tired. You are a horrible bed partner." Kenzi grumbled rolling over away from the light. "If hotpants starts sleeping with me I'll understand. It's probably why she's not here as we speak, she wanted to sleep through a night." She made a show of pulling a pillow out from under her head and hiding her face from the light with it. "You're a freak, who the hell dreams of zombie sex?"

"Kenzi, I wasn't dreaming of any sex. I woke up, you were sitting on my chest pinning down my arms with your knees and doing this weird huffy breathing at me." Bo tried to explain, really wanting it be clear she wasn't having weird sex dreams that would make her grope her best friend. "I thought maybe you were like sleep walking but I guess sleep sitting was a better phrase."

"Are you sure you're feeling okay? Cause from where I'm laying, you're the one having the freaky happen to them, I'm just laying here trying to sleep off a whole lot of free booze." Kenzi stuck her ass in the air a little. "Maybe you ate someone who didn't agree with you. Or maybe you have a fetish for Zombie sex."

"Sometimes I hate you." Bo threw the covers over Kenzi's unicorn flannel covered ass and bent over to turn off the light.

The more Kenzi had said and the more she had thought about it, Bo started to question whether she had been the one dreaming it all. It was a weird dream to say the least, and it wasn't like she didn't have weird dreams on a semi regular basis, it seemed to be one of those things that came with the fae territory. As she laid back down and closed her eyes, the logical fact that the ninety pound Wonder Kenzi couldn't pin her down if she had been trying to poked a hole in her idea of what had been real and what wasn't. After all she was the succubus, there was no way Kenzi could hold her down and she had been unable to free herself, of that she was sure.

The more she thought about it, the more Bo concluded that either her subconscious was trying to calm itself about Lauren not being their or indeed someone she'd snacked on hadn't agreed with her. Either way, she just hoped she wouldn't fall asleep and go back into the same dream. Something about it had made her very afraid and that wasn't a feeling she enjoyed awake or asleep.

-x-


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimers: All original property is owned by Showcase, and we do not infer that any characters, creations or the concept of 'Lost Girl' are our property and the following fan fiction has been written purely for entertainment purposes only.

Pairings: Bo/Lauren Set directly after our story "Faeral", the third story in an AU plot line.

Rating: M (Contains scenes of violence, sexuality and nudity)

**Faery Tale: Chapter Seven**

By: The Rainbowwriters

As Bo pulled her yellow Camaro onto the compound's driveway, she was immediately struck by the difference in the security gate house that now was doubled. Small reinforced structures flanked the full gated entrance, with a walkway connecting between the two booths high above the road but with perfect sniper positions if necessary.

The new gate was a fair cry from the single metallic arm that was once supposed to block anyone's entrance to the sacred estate beyond. Of course that 'security dream' had been shattered the night she had driven through it in order to get to Lauren and stop anything Dyson had planned for her. The Beast had ripped the arm right out of the pivot post, Bo remembering that the noise had been an almost comical 'ping', and at the time hadn't even registered as she prepared herself to drive the windy driveway at the maximum possible speed.

A ten foot cast iron, electronically activated gate, now barred her way, forcing Bo to stop the Camaro and work for a moment to fiddle with the sometimes dodgy manual window latch to roll down her window.

"Two weeks as the Ash and he's already burning through money." Kenzi commented from behind her big dark shades where she was recovering in the passenger seat from the effects of her night at Club Radiance.

The security officer that looked at her almost seemed to sigh with discontent, as he reached up and signalled for her to stay there as he communicated with the main house. Moments later Bo hadn't been able to stop grinning, when he'd frowned and with a large groan the gate began to slide open for her. Almost cheekily she gave him a bright succubus wink as she continued into the light fae compound

The Succubus had to admit that the compound lab had always been a surreal place for her. Her first visit had come in a hood and a unmarked van, not the best of starts most would say but she always remembered it as the first time she'd met 'The Doctor'. A moment that had literally changed her life in too many ways to count.

Often after that Bo had been welcomed into the estate, sometimes she's been forced to sneak in when her activities were likely to arise disapproval and other times she had literally broke in despite specific orders from the Ash to keep her out. Today however, thanking Hale for his 'understanding' the true nature of her 'attack' that night and not taking her off the guest list, she was just hoping to find Lauren during a moment where the blonde might be able to stop and take a minute.

The lab was the usual buzz of activity when Bo entered, signing in her name at the new internal security check point confidently despite the increased security. The guard had been little help in getting a location on Lauren, but interrupting a few busy technicians had finally led her to a set of dark blue double doors with various warnings about the contents of the room within clearly labelled across them.

"There you are." Bo pushed tentatively in, but when she saw the blonde sitting at a bench looking a large multicoloured display. "Labelling the labs with numbers would help visitors when a technician is trying to tell me you're in the electron fluoroscope room." She moved over and dropped the large paper bag and tray with coffees onto an open area of the clean work surface. "I brought coffee and sugar in case you forgot to eat."

Lauren started to smile the moment she heard Bo's voice, and when she looked up from the equipment to see her 'breakfast' being deposited in front of her, she couldn't help but grin. She swivelled in her seat to share the emotion Bo had created with the Succubus herself.

"This is something you shouldn't get me used to." Her smiled didn't dim in the least as she reached and eased the coffee out of the tray immediately, the rich smell of the designer brew far more attractive then the in house special. "What are you doing here?" She added cracking open the lid and taking a grateful sip even while it was still black. "I didn't expect a visit before lunch."

"I wanted to bring you supplies because I know what you're like." Bo admitted the first reason she had actually had that morning for coming to the compound bright and early. "But it turned into a double mission because Hale needed to see Kenzi." She hesitated for a beat to see if Lauren was aware that the Ash had called for the younger woman but her lover's look was unreadable. "I think the papers are ready to sign her up for the investigation finally."

"He did mention it." Lauren briefly looked down as she moved to put the coffee down on the desk again.

"So what did your all nighter reveal? Anything I can start digging around about?" Bo saw her reaction and knew there wasn't much to say about the topic. Until Kenzi was able to complete her investigation everything was in a holding pattern, it wasn't a state of affairs she liked but a game she had to play for the near future.

"Well yes and no." Lauren replied with a discontented sigh. "Officially no because you won't be working with me." She rolled her eyes slightly and shook her head when she saw Bo's immediate look of confusion. "It's complicated." She added breathing out.

"What do you mean... complicated?" Bo moved over closer to her in case Lauren was afraid someone was monitoring them. "Did Hale do something?" She narrowed her eyes.

"Bo, it's not his fault." Lauren began the sentence carefully but as soon as she'd spoken the words she knew they were going to have the opposite effect on her lover. "Decisions had to be made about rules of conduct during the interim."

"Lauren before I go cut the Ash a new hole to whistle Dixie from, tell me what's going on." Bo pushed her, pulling over a stood to sit on so that they were looking eye to eye.

"Well as it stands I can't officially work on this case, any case, as I am not officially under oath to the Ash or the Light." Lauren began her explanation glad that Bo had sat down. "So I have a choice to make."

"Whoa, if you're not officially under oath then why do we even need an investigation?" Bo wasn't sure where the problem was. "Let's just get the hell out of here."

"No." Lauren shook her head. "As it stands Bo I am..." She began but stopped. "This isn't the place to do this." She shook her head glancing some what uncomfortably over her shoulder to the door trying to remind Bo where they were, but she knew her lover well enough to know that she wasn't just going to let the topic go. "As it stands I'm an unclaimed slave Bo, who by default belongs to the Ash, but because of the investigation he has allowed to be put into motion, now not technically his property. There's an old ruling that states you can't have claim on something that is under conflict or review."

"Are you telling me that technically, because of some old smelly book you should be in a dungeon in chains until they figure this out if you are free or if you belong to the Ash?" Bo narrowed her eyes feeling her anger rising by the second. "I get it, I get it... until a decision is made things are all screwed up, and you can't officially be working on a case when you're not officially working. Thus you can't unofficially ask me to help with the case, only Hale can."

"Exactly, me being here is bad enough, he's treading on toes and he knows it." Lauren nodded happy that Bo was at least trying to see the bigger picture.

"So the elders think that unless you are under oath you're going to screw with the results and muck up cases on purpose?" Bo shook her head to the ridiculous idea.

"Worse, apparently the main rumour is that I'm..." Lauren swallowed, having not wanting to address this but knowing it was better to have warned Bo than to let something like this just attack her. "Let's just say it was noted by many who escorted me to the Garuda celebrations."

"Because she kidnapped you." Bo shot back, balling her fist up at her side and stood up. "This is all so backwards its stupid." She made the comment loudly and saw a head going by the door stop to stare until she stared back at them and they moved on. Trying to regain her composure she took a few breaths. "Okay, what do I need to do to sort this?"

"We'll talk about it later, okay, when I get home." Lauren moved over and put her hand on Bo's arm. "I might have to... Bo... while the case is investigated in the interests of impartiality..." She took a breath. "The accommodations here are more than adequate and Hale has assured me that you are more than welcome any time day or night."

With all of the information coming at her, Bo had to take a moment to centre herself as her anger threatened to go nuclear all at once. Not only was Lauren's work ethic and general loyalty being questioned, she was now expected to stay in the compound like a criminal.

"I don't like any of this." Bo stated in a tight voice, even though the fact was quite obvious from her body language. "But..." She stalled herself as she saw the emotions that Lauren was projecting back at her. Neither of them liked the situation, but clearly Lauren was doing her best to focus on the short term problem, finding out who was murdering light fae rather than letting herself get lost in the world of hypocrisy and rumour that seemed to be the upper echelons of the light fae hierarchy. Perhaps right now she should choose to do the same, even if it was just right now in front of Lauren that she did so. "How do you want to deal with this?"

"I don't know yet. Honestly Bo I've had an hour maybe two to digest it, and I shouldn't even be doing that. I have a hundred other things I should be doing..." The blonde frowned harder. "I don't want people in danger or in trouble for me." She underlined the simple fact. "And that's what could happen if I stay with you and Kenzi, we know what happened last time..." She looked away. "And I know things are different now, Hale would never do what Lachlan did because if he would I'd already be in the dungeon."

"You are not in the dungeon because you have done nothing wrong." Bo shook her head and stepped closer putting her hand on Lauren's arm. "For now, focus on what you need to do to figure out why we have dead people. I'll talk to Hale and find out how much pressure is coming at him from what sides, and we'll talk later about what is best for the short term until Kenzi stuffs the facts back in their faces." She paused and made sure that her lover was looking at her as she softened her voice a little. "In all of this, you have done nothing wrong, even when Lachlan was hurting you, you still did the best job you could for the light fae. They don't deserve you or understand how precious you are, not like I do."

"Thank you." Lauren regained a slim trace of a smile. "I missed you last night." She added honestly breathing out an honest sigh.

"I missed you too." Bo moved her hand to let her fingers touch the blonde's cheek, her voice flooding with honest emotion. "Kenzi is like sleeping with a hung over hippopotamus." She made the comparison as a flash of Kenzi's face from her nightmare filled her head, but the small laugh that the tired looking blonde enjoyed at the image made her stop before going on to tell her about the odd dream or occurrence that had happened that night with her best friend, the last thing she wanted to do was add another worry to her lover's plate.

-x-

Bo had sat and watched Lauren drink her coffee for a few minutes and fed her a little of the sugary treat she had brought in, but she could tell that the blonde had wanted to get back to work, even if it was as much to get through the day and have it over with as it was because of loyalty to the cause. The succubus had been okay about leaving the lab, not that she wanted to leave Lauren, but the conversation she had had with her lover had made her eager to talk to Hale, to clear up exactly what had been said about Lauren and what he was doing about it. Having to bite back her anger while she was with Lauren probably hadn't been a good thing for the young Ash as it had given her time to stew over the issue internally, so that by the time she eased out of the high tech area and made her way through the ornate hallways and walk ways of the compound towards Hale's office she had wound herself up to close to boiling point.

The two large security personnel that stood either side of the Ash's office door merely got a look from the succubus as she stalked up to the heavy wooden door and pushed it open. Quickly taking in the scene before her, with Kenzi playing with the feathery end of the elaborate quill she was about to use to sign the large document that was laid out on the Ash's desk in front of her, and Hale leaning back watching her with an amused smile, her eyes narrowed slightly.

"Don't sign that yet." She snapped making both Hale and Kenzi snap out of what ever camaraderie they had going on between them instantly to turn and stare at Bo.

Indeed the interruption had come as some what of a shock to the pair as they had spent the last half an hour or so in a nice relaxed atmosphere, looking over the ridiculously long contract that had been drawn up by Hale and his 'associates', with Kenzi making suggestions for additions and changes when she had felt it was applicable. For example, section 16B that stated Kenzi was not able to leak any information learned during her investigation to the 'human world', nor was she allowed to eat or otherwise consume the physical property of the Ash during the course of her investigation. Hale had of course explained that this had meant documents or evidence, which of course some fae would do, Kenzi had then began to chew on the top corner of the contract, complaining that it needed more salt, and the two of them had been in stitches for a few moments until another equally amusing or seemingly unlikely clause caught her eye and distracted her again.

"For real?" Kenzi actually swung round on the old librarian chair, that had given her endless amusement while Hale had been reading her the 'fine print' on the lengthy contract until it had made her feel a little sick when she had spun it too fast. "I was just about to squiggle with the goose feather." She waggled the ornate white quill before setting it to rest back in the nearby ink well but not before spraying Hale's suit with a flash of pitch black ink. "Oops." She gave him an apologetic grin.

"Bo?" The Siren gave Kenzi a playful scowl and reached for a tissue to blot at the ink before focusing his attention on the succubus.

"You listen to me and you listen good." Bo began looking Hale directly in the eyes' "I know this can't be written down in a document or anything like that but if you ever at any stage during this put Lauren in the dungeon, I'm going make what I did to Dyson look like a carnival ride compared to what I'll do to the whole lot of you."

Kenzi, who had initially been very disarmed by Bo's tone instantly focused on the idea of Lauren being incarcerated.

"Dungeon?" Kenzi flipped to the last few pages of the contract, "There is no dungeon in here, you can't put my client in the dungeon." She looked at Hale with a glare of disappointment.

"Kenzi, technically I'm your client." Hale clarified not wanting to take on both women right now, having Bo gunning for him was bad enough especially when he understood exactly what the succubus was talking about.

"Oh, yeah right." The younger woman looked down.

"I had hoped maybe your visit with Lauren would be longer, or that you would visit with Dyson before coming to see me..." Hale sighed slightly speaking at Bo but not looking at her.

"Okay you, did your brains fall when they put that Ash thing on your head? They're doing it, first rule when you're doing it with someone and you skip a night, you bring them breakfast the next morning... Idiot." Kenzi reached across the table and lightly slapped him. "No wonder you never get a third date."

"Kenzi." Bo growled a soft warning at her and shook her head to the younger woman's playful approach. "Right now Lauren is down there working her self ragged in the lab for you and has been all night long, to try and work out why three people are dead, and all that time your cronies are more worried about whether she's loyal to the light than they are about the fact that there are dead light fae in dark fae territory. Or maybe they figure that that's just Lauren's new boss making work for her? Is that it? Or wasn't I supposed to hear the rumours about the fact that Lauren might be a spy for the Morrigan after all the Morrigan brought her to the Garuda party." Bo felt her anger peaking and she could feel the confused looks that Kenzi was throwing between her and Hale as well as the almost ashamed expression on the Siren's face as he looked more at the carpet than he did at either of them. "Really Ash, you can tell them from me, when Lauren was kidnapped..." She stressed the word. "By the leader of the dark fae, all she was interested in was having a bargaining chip to get her Mesmer back, that and maybe her wrinkles." She breathed out a hot breath, clearly expressing her pent up anger and frustration.

"Bo, please." Hale finally spoke, glancing up at the succubus, he nodded to a chair to see if he could get her to sit down. "I know what you have heard, and believe me I am working on it." He tried to begin.

"Working on it?" Bo didn't take the seat and didn't let up on her tirade. "Lauren came in at your request, to help you with a medical problem, she didn't come in to face a barrage of rumours and accusations."

"I know." Hale kept his voice calm and even in the face of Bo's anger, he had been expecting this, even though secretly he had been hoping it would miraculously some how not happen. "But this place has existed for centuries as much on rumour and gossip as it has on legislation and law I think." He sighed and shook his head. "Like you said there are some who have suggested, not that I think even they believe it, but they are worried that Lauren is looking to defect to the Dark, or indeed maybe spying for the Dark as we speak." He admitted the fact with another sigh. "There was an anonymous email that was circulated around the elders, it was forwarded to me, that said as much, but so far I've had no luck finding its source." He breathed out again. "I'm doing what I can to contain it and to squash any suggestion it makes."

"Am I actually hearing this BS?" Kenzi asked suddenly from her place looking at Hale shaking her head. "Someone actually believes that Dr. Hotpants would spy for the Morrigan? Wow you guys could rewrite the definition of paranoia." She shook her head. "If I knew anonymous emails were the way to get the light fae elite all riled up I'd have started shit ages ago." She added shaking her head. "Come on man you can do better than I'm working on it." She looked at Hale blinking. "You're the grand Ash Man."

"I am," Hale nodded. "And I am being pro-active even if it doesn't seem like it, my wiggle room isn't what it looks like from the outside, it feels more like slight shimmy room from the inside believe me." He rolled his eyes. "The first thing I did to help was bring Lauren in to this problem we have right now, announcing I trust her, I'm sending a clear message to everyone that I am happy to have her in the lab and working with me, which I hope you'll agree is better than sending her away to a 'secure but pleasant' place where she could stay but not be privy to anything so her chances to spy would be minimalized – yes, that was what I was advised to do." He explained. "I can't make this just disappear, even if I want to." His tone was soft and apologetic.

Kenzi looked over her shoulder at Bo who during his explanation moved to lean against one of the thick pillars in the room, her face full of frustration and yet at the same time showing signs of at least understanding that the young siren was at least trying.

"Bo, no one wants to believe it." Hale offered, it was obvious from his tone that he wasn't sure whether or not this information would help the situation or not, but he felt it was important none the less. "The Doc is well liked." He gave a soft shrug. "You wouldn't believe how many offers from old families I've had of places she could go and stay to claim sanctuary."

Bo turned to look at Hale for a long moment feeling her anger simmer as she mulled over his response and explanation of the situation, as well as everything else about what was churning over in her head.

"Did you and Kenzi talk about the investigation?" Bo didn't comment on his point, knowing it had been said to make her feel better, but it didn't.

"We looked over the contract, settled some minor points." Hale looked at the contract then Kenzi and then back at Bo.

"I meant about Lauren and the investigation." She said, her anger petering out slightly, her voice more now sounding tired.

"What do you mean?" It was Kenzi that asked as she turned her head to frown at Bo, still a little shell shocked by the sea-saw of emotions that had gone on in the room over the last little while.

"Bo." Hale finally sat back in his chair putting his arms down along the wooden arms of the chair and looking for the first time like 'the Ash' rather than just Hale. "I know that right now it is hard for you to understand what must be done and how it must be done, and I can understand that." His voice though not harsh did have a certain air of authority to it. "You have to understand that what needs to be done needs to be done right, so that the best outcome is ensured. You, Lauren and Kenzi are my friends, and I never forget that, whether I am making decisions as Hale or as the Ash, but I need to remember my position at all times too. If I addressed this whole situation in a 'what's best for me way' I would send Lauren away until after Kenzi's investigation is over and a decision about her future is made, no fuss, no mess, no questions of loyalty or espionage." He breathed out again and looked at Bo seeing her eyes flare a little at his words. "But I never address anything from one side Bo, let alone something this important, and when it comes to the Doc, if even half of the stuff I've read is right, as Ash I need to start making amends and thinking of her." He shifted his shoulders slightly. "But yes, I will be pushing that she stays here at the compound during Kenzi's investigation, or somewhere else more neutral if she or you would like to arrange it, for no other reason than impartiality as far as being in close contact with Kenzi twenty four seven." He pointed out. "I also want her working for me during that time, personally for no other reason that she's damn good at what she does and I really like how she does what she does and I need her." He kept his eyes on Bo the entire time that he outlined his plan for what was to come.

For a long moment the succubus was still and silent. If she was honest she had been impressed both by Hale's honesty and by the fact that he hadn't backed down and tried to ply her with excuses or bluffs. Things were a mess, that much was obvious, but what was equally apparent was that the siren was trying to fight a way through the tangled web to find a clear path ahead, and that she had to admire him for.

"You know if you predecessor hadn't have gotten his head sliced off this whole damn thing wouldn't be an issue." She said dryly. "There would be no is she or isn't she, or any of this."

"Don't I know it." Hale smiled at her with a light huff. "He's welcome to the job, headless or not. Bo really I know the interim is going to be hard, but as soon as this is signed, decided..." He glanced down at the work contract in front of Kenzi. "And Lauren is free it all goes away and I get to enjoy you all being my friend's first and foremost." He smiled honestly. "And even though this thing looks like an oversized instruction manual, I swear it's all that it should be. I even had Trick go through it to make sure there are no loop holes, no gaps that can be picked at, and to make sure that in it all Kenzi is a-okay and cared for." He glanced at the younger woman with a smile.

"I get a great hourly rate." The raven haired woman interjected with a smirk at her best friend.

"It's not perfect I know." Hale looked at Bo his face serious. "But I am trying."

For a long moment a soft sort of silence filled the office before Bo moved a little closer to the desk.

"I'm sorry." She said, her tone a very different one to the blistering angry one that she had used when she had burst in moments before. "You're right that I don't get all the politics and the red tape, but I do get that in it all there is a Siren I know and care about trying hard to make the best thing for everyone happen." She looked at him apologetically. "If you're happy with that contract and your hourly fee Kenz, I'd sign." She winked at her friend who smiled back and reached to grab the quill and scribbled her signature in place.

"I'll have a copy couriered over to the club house with a few books you should read before starting work, they go over lore and a few points you should know." Hale signed and dated the document under Kenzi's scrawl. "Welcome to the pay roll." He added with a smile.

"Oh yeah, who's bringing home the money now?" Kenzi grinned brightly. "Speaking of which, what's with the dead dudes?" She introduced the idea to the more relaxed atmosphere.

"Actually I'm glad you mentioned it." Hale looked at Kenzi and then leaned forward a little uncomfortably, glancing at Bo.

"Hale it's alright I was going to ask, the whole Lauren thing..." She stopped and shook her head. "You know I'll help you if I can, I just sometimes..."

"Need to vent, I get it." Hale nodded easily and reached out to pick up a pile of paper work obviously from the lab from the colour of the folders it was in. "I've got three bodies, two human, one fae." He flipped open the folder and turned a couple of pages. "They were found early evening yesterday on west point pier." He held out the file for Bo to take. The succubus took it and looked at the sheets detailing the injuries, checking out the photographs of the crime scene, passing them on to Kenzi.

"Messy." Bo summed up looking back at Hale. "Definitely dark fae territory I guess first thing to do would be a good poke around the site." She offered with a glance down at Kenzi.

"Oh great, fish stink." Kenzi scrunched up her nose.

"I would really appreciate anything you could bring me on this." Hale was honest. "But be careful, you don't have the two best looking cops at your back out there any more." He frowned a little which in turn made both Kenzi and the succubus do the same.

"How weird does that feel?" Kenzi commented her sentence as much a statement as a question and Bo nodded.

"Ah, actually speaking of which." Hale somewhat sheepishly looked up. "The other half of this once dynamic duo has been asking after the pair of you. Not dropping hints but as you're here, you could stop by and see him or something, just letting you ladies know how the land lies. Really, that wasn't me trying to push you to visit." He underlined with a soft smile.

"Gotcha big man. Well we should run along and poke at the pier." Kenzi smiled at him as she got out of her chair and grabbed her jacket. She hurried to Bo and looped her arm through her best friend's turning her gently towards the door, feeling more than seeing Bo's reaction to Hale's somewhat badly timed words. "I'll be waiting for my care package." She added with a wave over her shoulder as she navigated the still silent succubus out of the room.

-x-


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimers: All original property is owned by Showcase, and we do not infer that any characters, creations or the concept of 'Lost Girl' are our property and the following fan fiction has been written purely for entertainment purposes only.

Pairings: Bo/Lauren Set directly after our story "Faeral", the third story in an AU plot line.

Rating: M (Contains scenes of violence, sexuality and nudity)

**Faery Tale: Chapter Eight**

By: The Rainbowwriters

If Kenzi was honest it was more the lack of tension in Bo's arm that worried her than anything, as she directed the succubus down a long echoy hallway and then right through open double doors to a bright glass roofed sun room, filled with tall, leafy exotic plants, and recliner chairs. Carefully she led Bo to one of them and eased her down into it.

"You don't have to go visit Dyson." Kenzi said immediately taking her place sitting crossed legged at Bo's feet, she put her hands up on her best friends knees. "Just because we're in the same general vicinity as him right now, doesn't mean you do." She underlined. "By the sounds of it, you've had quite the roller-coaster time of it already, I'm not sure you need to add another pit stop onto the journey." She spoke honestly and clearly to her closest friend.

"But I should go see him." Bo reasoned out loud, "While I'm here." The words came from Bo's lips in an oddly monotone way, as though she was saying them to herself to convince herself of their truth.

"Or you could not and save yourself the emotional trauma." Kenzi offered an alternative.

Bo moved her hand to rub her forehead and tried to remember back to when she had left for the compound that morning, had she had any intentions of going to see Dyson, had she really even remembered he was there? I mean other than subconsciously knowing that's where he was, had he figured into her reasoning at all? She couldn't recall.

"How about I go and see him?" Kenzi went on, after all it had been a part of her agenda to ask Hale if the two of them could slip to see the wolf at some point. If she was honest she had expected Bo to have been 'busy' with the doc a lot longer than she had been. "If there is anyone you trust to give you a frank and honest update on someone it's your bestie, right?" She added poking her knee with a smile that she did her best to make Bo acknowledge.

The succubus slowly tried to gather herself back into some semblance of order and focus on what was being said and what she wanted to happen. After all did she even want Kenzi to go and see Dyson alone? Did she trust him enough to let that happen? The succubus hardly knew the answer, in fact all she really knew was that she had the beginnings of a really bad headache.

"So that's a plan, I'll go have a quick visit with the D man and come and get you so you can take me somewhere for lunch, as I have yet to receive my Light Fae credit card, and then we do the dock work." Kenzi, who had been waffling constantly while Bo had been gathering her thoughts finally summed up her plan and looked up at Bo for some acknowledgement or agreement.

"Okay." Bo nodded slowly and blinked her dark brown eyes at Kenzi reasoning with herself that Kenzi loved Dyson and was probably pretty desperate to see him needing in someway to face her own demons about him. "With a slight tweak." She altered the plan as her mind settled on the thought.

-x-

With the scientific assessments of the wolf coming back all in the green and his actual behaviour having been nothing but the picture of the 'perfect prisoner', Dyson's latest security accommodation had stepped down so that he now had a window in his 'cell' again. Though the door was still a reinforced 'fae' item and that window had gridded bars over it, the apartment at least had a real bed, with minimal medical equipment on a small table to the side. The other difference was that the bed was actually in a separate room, and Dyson was sitting in the small living area on a high back chaise. The deep burgundy and royal purple tapestry covering showed that while it was a prison, this one had been expensively decorated.

His ears picked up on the heavy reinforcing bars, that sunk deep into the sides of the walls surrounding the door when they were engaged, being drawn back to open the door long before it swung open. He hadn't been expecting any visitors, but it wasn't exactly like he was made aware of when people were coming and going.

Despite the trouble it had gotten him into, his wolf nature was the one thing not letting him down and so his body was healing at its accelerated rate and slowly but surely repairing all of the damage that Bo had done to him in the final round of his Conquering. The physical issues weren't the ones weighing heavily on Dyson however, it was the mental and emotional ones.

Keeping his eyes on the opening, the moment he saw Kenzi's petite form coming through the door, her blue eyes coming to hold his, he knew that some of the things he was worrying about were about to be addressed one way or the other. The fact that she was in a classic all black outfit with an almost neon green belt, made him realize how much he had missed her in the turmoil since his awakening.

He didn't say anything at first, and neither did she. They just stared off against one another, until a long few moments had passed and uncharacteristically it was Dyson who first lowered his eyes.

"Kenzi." He said simply. Listening to how she remained close to the door as it closed and sealed behind her.

"Hey." She gave a one handed wave and stepped a couple of paces further in waiting for his eyes to come up.

"I'd get up but..." He motioned to his still cast covered arm and bandaged shoulder.

"Yeah like that stops you, you're just scared of the beating I'm gonna lay down on you for being such an ass-hole." Kenzi walked a little closer puffing out her chest.

"That was my first concern." He gave a soft smile and motioned to the other chair, not surprised when she perched on the arm to make herself taller then he was. "And from what I've been told, I deserve it."

"Yeah well, I shot you so, you know..." She offered a soft shrug showing him clearly through the way her body tensed and sent out a hint of adrenaline how much the memories bothered her still. "In case you were wondering where that hole in your leg came from."

"Hale explained where it came from." Dyson gave a short nod, following her eyes down to the leg where underneath a light bandage was still covering the wound. "Though in future... if I am dangerous enough to shoot, aim for more critical areas." His face saddened as he gave the instruction. "I'm sorry if I scared you." His voice lowered to a soft tone of sincere regret.

"It's okay." Kenzi actually looked down at the floor and mumbled her answer, because it really wasn't okay. So much of her had looked up to Dyson; loved him in a big brother, protector kind of way. It had really shaken her up to see him so out of control, even if that fact was explained away by an ancient wolf rite, he'd still be far out of bounds and Kenzi still wasn't sure how she'd ever look at him with the same sense of hero worship.

"It's not okay." Dyson called her on it immediately, though his voice remained gentle. "The way I acted, the things I did... that I intended to do..." He frowned, a deepening look of regret on his features. "The only shred of defence I have is that I didn't know what I was doing. The rite I was undergoing is a wolf experience you should have never been forced to witness, let alone live through. I just hope I can make it up to you."

"I'm making a 'make-up' list." The young woman looked up a little, smiling at Dyson through her bangs. At the very least she believed his sincerity. "I crossed off things like a pony and a race car because you know they're impractical. But lunches, movies and much alcohol are all on there... as well as never doing anything like this again." She stressed the last one to show it was in fact the most important.

Dyson gave a soft nod of his head, having hoped that this would be the reception he got from the younger woman. Acceptance that he was sorry, but reminders of how out of control he had been and warnings that he'd be scrutinized for along time to come. Yet, the hope that bridges could be mended in time, with effort and honesty.

"Bo's here." Kenzi picked at one of the long black gloves she was wearing as she glanced at the wolf briefly and then back at the door.

"How is she?" Dyson asked the starting question in a low soft tone, not sure where else made sense to start.

"She's..." Kenzi made a soft non-committal noise as she looked back at him. "Things aren't 100% for her at the moment; there's still the fallout from you trying to rape Lauren..." She made herself say the base fact just the once to actually make sure that he was aware of what he had intended to do. She watched as he winced and looked down. "There's a big investigation into Lauren's status and all the drama that is stirring up and then there's you." She summed up her best friend's mind set, purposely leaving out the events of the day before. She didn't want to feel vulnerable right now, she wanted to feel strong and confident in front of him, make him understand she wasn't taking any crap from him or his wolf nature anymore. Everything about the 'mystery' basement intruder made her feel uneasy and she pushed it from her mind.

"I've spent a lot of my time trying to figure out what she must be feeling..." The wolf tilted his head showing that he understood the basis of Kenzi's appraisal. "How she must be feeling towards me. I... I can't imagine how hard this was on her or on Lauren."

"Tip from me, you might wanna try real hard to jot down some vague ideas at least." Kenzi slipped off the chair and moved over to pat his 'good' shoulder. She had purposely bridged the gap between them wanting to somehow lessen the innate fear response he still brought out inside her. "Because the fact that all of your issues centred on Lauren, not on Bo, really did a job on her." She gave her head a soft disapproving shake but she slipped down to sit near his leg on the chaise. "Attacking her is one thing, but attacking Lauren... all the things your sick alter wolf ego wanted to do to her, it crossed a line Dyson."

"None of the things I did or tried to do under the rite are acceptable Kenzi." Dyson let go of a breath showing his utter discomfort about his own actions. "In the sacred forest... if Bo and Lauren had also been wolves then..." His body sunk more, looking smaller and more in pain. "Then maybe all of this would have made some sense but..." He fixed her with sad eyes. "This quest was not the will of the Great Wolf Spirit, it was a perverse twisting of the Buaigh Ar An Ainmhi."

"Perverse is the word." Kenzi nodded at him and then looked back at the door. "I came in first because I wanted you to know that Bo is angry, hurt and confused about all of this. Don't expect her to just get that you don't remember and you weren't in control, or to see those things as an excuse."

"She has every right to feel all those things." Dyson admitted what he did believe to be true. "Kenzi..." He looked at the younger woman seriously. "I was weakened by the Norn and manipulated by the Garuda into something I would never knowingly allowed myself to be. In my nine hundred years, I have never felt like I do right now... so... ashamed of myself."

"That's cause you're not human." Kenzi actually smiled at him, the emotion reaching her whole face. "You'd be so used to it if you were human, we get ashamed in the morning just because we woke up." She tried to help him understand it was a natural emotion. "Bo loves you and what she had to do to you, having to take you down, hurt her but..." She stopped and fixed him with her eyes. "She had to do it, and she would have done worse if you made her." She tried to help him understand what she herself had seen and lived that night in the Dal.

"I don't blame her for any of this." Dyson made a vague gesture with his good hand to his body.

"The thing you need to remember for the next ten minutes is that (A)..." She began the list she had mentally prepared for the wolf. "You love Bo and Bo loves you but (B) Bo is in love with Lauren and has chosen her to share her life." She underlined the fact to him unnecessarily. "(C) You tried to kill, rape and maul Lauren, multiple times; and (D) You were a bad, bad dog." She looked at him with a broader smile. "When all else fails, mainly focus on A, B and D. Got it?"

"Got it." Dyson nodded and moved his good hand to take hers and squeeze it, pleased when she didn't flinch or pull away from his slow deliberate movement.

-x-

When Kenzi had left to get Bo, Dyson had decided to stay in his place in the high backed chair and await the succubus' arrival. The pillows under his cast making the pain that still shot through his whole left side easier to deal with especially with what he knew he was about to face.

The truth was though that what he wanted most of all was the chance to face it, being locked in this box hadn't given him the opportunity to take the initiative so he'd been forced to wait all this time for Bo to be ready to see him. Now that the moment was upon them, he felt his body fill with an odd sense of anticipation and worry. As the door began to open he found himself taking a quick breath and holding it.

The sound of the succubus' boots on the floor sounded so very different to Kenzi's pin heels. Her footsteps were stronger, more focused and he didn't look up at first. There was no hesitation at the door, unlike Kenzi, as Bo walked straight over to stand at the end of his chair by his feet.

Slowly the wolf brought his dark eyes up to find hers, the sting of emotion that looked back at him made his whole being shrink in anguish. Eyes that once always held solace for him, held nothing. Her gaze was firm and traced over him to appraise his injuries.

"I should have brought a marker." She made a vague flick of her hand towards his cast. "Or isn't that something fae do?" She added with a shrug, seeming almost disinterested in him.

"We aren't normally not that nice to each other." Dyson admitted watching her every move and nuance. "Thank you for coming." He made the soft admission.

"It's not like I could avoid it forever." Bo breathed out a soft huff as she moved around the back of the chair Kenzi had sat in. "I didn't come earlier because, well... I was away and well... I just didn't." She finished bluntly.

"I understand." Dyson's nod was slow and indeed understanding. "Bo..." He breathed out through his nose, the noise louder then any of his other breaths as he seemed to gear up for what he was going to say. "I know that saying I'm sorry can't even begin to make up for what I put you through, what I put Lauren through, but I am sorry, very sorry."

"Of course you are." Bo turned so she wasn't looking at him. "I'd like to believe that you in your right mind wouldn't have done that to me, to Lauren, to any of us." She said, though there was little conviction in her voice. "I also know you don't remember any of it so in reality this means next to nothing." She summed up, her hands balling into light fists as she spoke.

Bo turned around and the bottom of her three quarter length jacket flaring up slightly as she did. Her hands were still clenched at her sides and her face had begun to break from the neutral mask it had been when she'd first come in.

"Dyson I'm sorry, I don't want to be mad at you, I want to just look at you and be grown up and just accept that you didn't know, that it wasn't your fault, that you were being controlled by something mystical and bigger than yourself, but..." She frowned and shook her head. "But I'm not that gracious." She made the honest admittance. "I trusted you, I believed out of every fae I knew that if I asked you I could count on you to do things for me, things like protect Lauren..." She pointed to her chest. "And I found out exactly what you would do for me." She forced herself to swallow the bile that rose in the back of her throat at the memories her words caused. "And I'm not bigger than that. No matter how much I want to be." She took another fast breath. "I want to look at you like I used to Dyson, I really do. But I can't." She shook her head. "I look at you and see the animal that was poised over the woman I love, about to..." She stopped, feeling the shake in her body and the tremor in her voice. "You almost killed Lauren, you bastard." She hissed the words at him with the full burn of her hatred.

Through the whole speech Dyson had tried to keep his eyes on hers, give her the respect she deserved, even as his chin sunk lower and lower.

"The idea of hurting Lauren, because you love her, because you choose her... is unforgivable." His voice was as pained as she'd ever heard it. "All I have ever wanted is what is best for you, even if it is not with me." He tried to underline what he did believe. "I might not remember Bo, but it doesn't change what you have lived through, what I put you through. I know that what I became, what I forced you to do to stop me, changes everything." His eyes finally went down unable to hold hers. "If you want me out of the county, out of your sight, then I will go. I will always love you Bo but I accept that what I was turned into by the Garuda has made me a different man in your eyes."

"It's too early to think about what happens next." Bo shook her head, turning away from him again. "You're not fit and I can barely think about it all without losing my mind."

"Can I ask you one thing?" Dyson watched her saddened by what he saw, the tension in her body and the war of emotions she was experiencing. "Why didn't you kill me?"

"Because it wasn't you." Bo shook her head suddenly remembering Kenzi's words from the Gala as she turned back to fix him with emotion filled eyes. "And friends know when to call it, it wasn't time to call it." She forced herself to breath out and forced her eyes to look out the barred window. "You probably know this by now but Lauren worked it out, the whole Conquering thing. With all you were doing, she knew."

Bo finally let her eyes look up briefly to cast a quick glance over the wolf and the damage that was still visible. The large cast and the damage to his face the most obvious leftovers of their last encounter. Memories of the last time she and the wolf had been forced to interact instantly pushed themselves into her mind.

"She knew it wasn't you, we all knew." She stood a little straighter and made herself look at him, tears in her eyes as she focused on his face. "It's good that you don't remember." She summed up. "Because what I remember makes my heart seize every time I remember it, makes my hand reach out to stop her every time Lauren turns to leave my side, makes me double check the front door and glance at every dark corner of the bedroom before I turn out the light." She forced herself to try and make herself stop the short hard breaths that had taken place of her regular controlled breathing as she let herself open up about the reality of the day to day fear she lived with because of what had happened. When she raised her hand a little to say something else to the wolf, she saw it shaking and couldn't control it to the point that she just let it drop. "You know what I... I can't do this yet." She threw the apology at him whilst already turning, her feet already in motion towards the door.

Hammering her fist on it hard, the response came in second, the heavy door moving aside to let her escape from the seemingly ever shrinking space. Moving on instinct Bo's legs took her on long strides away from the room as thick heavy tears rolled down her cheeks, splashing off her eyelashes as she blinked them hard and fast to try and at least keep some idea of where she was heading. Finally her strangely burning legs brought her to the heavy double front doors which she pushed through without hesitation into the freedom of fresh air.

More or less throwing herself at the closest wall, Bo let her ass hit the brick work as she bent forward, putting her hands on her knees, gasping for air, as she let herself openly sob, pant and choke enough air into her lungs through the tears of frustration, anger, sorrow, everything. The gasping for breath soon changing into just full out crying as she leaned back up against the wall only to slide down it till her ass hit the gravel floor.

-x-


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimers: All original property is owned by Showcase, and we do not infer that any characters, creations or the concept of 'Lost Girl' are our property and the following fan fiction has been written purely for entertainment purposes only.

Pairings: Bo/Lauren Set directly after our story "Faeral", the third story in an AU plot line.

Rating: M (Contains scenes of violence, sexuality and nudity)

**Faery Tale: Chapter Nine**

By: The Rainbowwriters

A seemingly short few hours later, the scene inside the club house was unusual to say the least. Kenzi was sat at Lauren's work desk, the double hinged lamp angled to shed its light specifically over her shoulder onto the thick book she was squinting at. Her feet were up on the white surface, leaning on Lauren's 'in' tray, her fluffy slippers wiggling back and forth in rhythm to whatever song she was listening to on her oversized headphones as she read.

In contrast, Bo was in the kitchen peeling potatoes in the sink while frowning and cursing at the frying pan nearby. It was simmering on the stove, spitting and hissing occasionally in answer to her, sending splatters of its contents onto the other hotplates and the worktop along side of the stove. Over her usual tight leather outfit, she had white apron with bright red letters that read 'kiss the cook' across her breasts. It was actually a good thing that she'd put the covering on, as it seemed to have more food on it than was in the pan.

"Is there going to be anything coming out of your kitchen Chef Ramsie other than F-Bombs or do I phone for takeout?" Kenzi pushed off her earphones, having to take a break from the enormous book of rules that she was reading before she went insane.

Of course the sight of her best friend trying to be domestic in the kitchen begged to be videoed and put up on YouTube for millions to enjoy Bo's strings of colourful curses. If only it wouldn't break one of the clauses of her contract she'd have already taken out her phone.

"The recipe lied." Bo huffed as she turned away from the sink and stalked towards her best friend. She plucked the cook book she'd been trying to work from up off the island as she walked by. "This is supposed to be a level two recipe, level two." She stressed angrily. "That is like a level fifty." She tossed the book at Kenzi over the desk top with another loud huff.

"Not that I'm great at this either but what is it supposed to be?" Kenzi picked up the open book, trying to look at the recipe Bo was attempting but she found that a clump of pages were stuck together by a blackish brown goo. "Are you sure this is a cookbook and not one of Lauren's fae chemistry manuals?" She asked a bit worried by what she was seeing seeping over the pages.

"Yes it's been here all the time you and I have." Bo objected. "You brought it with you." She pointed out and then reached out to snatch it from the younger woman, snapping it closed and turning it to face the cover to her best friend.

In large block letters it read 'Dishes from the Homeland. 365 recipes for food'.

Kenzi couldn't help but start hysterically laughing, and she pointed one hand at the book and then slapped the desk top a few times lightly as she continued to chuckle.

"Bo, I got that from my Great Aunt, she brought that book over with her when she fled Europe for the 'New Land'." Kenzi kept laughing knowing that while she'd been a darling, her Great Aunt Olga had been as crazy as they came. It never had dawned on the sweet woman when she'd given Kenzi the book and told her the long story about its travel with her that it was in English and stated on an inside page that it was a 'translated' version of an old cook book printed in New York. "I keep it for sentimental value not for actual cooking. A whole chapter of that book is on a dozen different ways to cook an entire sheep head."

"WHAT!" Bo snatched the book back again and flipped it open to her page, pointing at the list of ingredients. "I thought when the recipe called for hedgehog it was just a European word for hamburger meat."

Kenzi started to laugh even more hysterically as she moved around and hugged her best friend, her whole body shaking from the amusement she felt. Not hugging her back, Bo threw the book at the couch.

"No, they mean hedgehog... little hedgehog... dead, skinned stuck in your soup." Kenzi continued to giggle as she made it clear to Bo that the recipe meant exactly what it said. "You were going to serve us hedgehog you big spender." She pulled back playfully slapping at Bo's body. "You must have slept with a lot of soldiers to get the ration tickets for that or set your traps real early in the morning."

"You come from weirder people than I do, and I'm fae." Bo shook her head and stalked back to the stove. "Hearty stew, the recipe was called Hearty Stew." She defended her choice. "There was no mention of the little prickly contents until the second line." She switched off the burner and picked up the pan. "I'm calling it."

"Pour us some wine and I'll figure out what to order." Kenzi tried to soothe her laughter and watched as Bo dumped it into the sink. "So are you going to tell me how your visit with Dyson went or are you going to unleash that on Lauren when she gets here?" She pulled open the 'take out menu' drawer and selected a few to choose from for the night.

"I'm not going to unleash anything on Lauren especially as we'll probably be spending the evening packing her stuff." Bo sighed as she moved to sit down heavily on the couch. "It was horrible." The succubus let out a lungful of air and shook her head.

"I do multi-topic conversations." Kenzi moved over and crawled over the back of the couch to sit next to her. "First, forget packing, spend the whole time enjoying yourselves. We can pack her stuff tomorrow and bring it over to her. Secondly, yeah I get that, I didn't ask in the car because you seemed strung out enough. But he seemed..." She stopped herself. "Almost... like old Dyson."

"He did." Bo agreed nodding. "But that doesn't exactly help, it doesn't change what happened." She admitted one of the big issues she had found herself facing when she'd seen him. "It doesn't change what I see when I look at him, what I feel when I think about what happened." She looked at her best friend with a frown.

"It doesn't." Kenzi assured her that what she was feeling was totally hers to feel, anyway she wanted or needed. After all Kenzi had seen enough of what had gone on first hand to know how bad it was by the time Bo finished it. "I told him that was one of the things he was going to have to be cool with was letting you and well everyone deal with. He might not remember but we lived it, especially you and Lauren. I told him there wasn't going to be any easy pass, because he'd been a bad bad dog." She tried to at least make Bo realize she wasn't somehow overreacting or acting outside of the expected.

"Yeah that's the one thing old fairy stories never tell you isn't it, how the happily ever after really goes." Bo shook her head.

"You hang around me too much, you're getting cynical." Kenzi moved closer and put her arm around her best friend's shoulders. "When he gets released, and we know he will since he is a good dog now again... and we arrive at the Dal and he's there, we deal. We roll like we always do senorita, top down and full out." She made a motion off into the imaginary sunset.

"Isn't that what Thelma and Louise did?" Bo frowned at her best friend.

"Yes, but we're going to make sure the road doesn't end in a cliff." Kenzi laughed tightly. "You'll work it out Bo, you'll deal when you have to deal, you always do and Lauren, I think when faced with him in the future..." She stressed the idea that that particular meeting shouldn't take place anytime in the near future. "She'll deal like Lauren deals; be professional, take precautions, remember she has you to hold and make it better."

"But she doesn't." Bo countered shaking her head as she turned out of Kenzi's arm to look at her. "And that meeting that should be eons away could be any time because Hale wants to keep her at the compound." The succubus' stress level almost visibly notched up.

"If I know Dyson, he isn't going to let a chance meeting happen at the compound..." Kenzi began to counter her counter but was cut off.

"I'm not talking about Dyson, I'm talking about Lauren." Bo shook her head. "She's already been through his results with a fine tooth comb because she knows I'm worried about him, just how long is it going to be before that brain of hers pushes for her to just get it over with and face him." The brunette spelled out the blatantly likely fact. "She's not the ignore it and it will go away type Kenz." Bo shook her head more.

"Damn her doctor hotpants brain." Kenzi had to agree with Bo immediately, totally seeing how the assessment of how Lauren would deal would be exactly as outlined. She was actually proud of Bo for having thought things out enough to realize how the blonde would react to the hidden pressure to 'get things over with'. Except Kenzi added to herself that a big part of Lauren's reason for getting it over with, would be because she didn't want it to be a problem for Bo.

"I just know she's not ready." Bo added as she leaned back against the couch cushions shaking her head still as she lingered on the topic.

"Then you need to take a small chuck of enjoyment time tonight and make it clear to her that you don't want her to face off with him yet. That you want to be there when she does." Kenzi put in immediately with a soft frown. "There's a good chance she won't push herself if she knows you don't want her too."

"Or there's the chance she'll think I'm an over bearing controlling girlfriend, when we not even in that stage of a relationship." Bo admitted to her best friend the quandary she was in.

"Huh? You so are, you went away together, you've been playing footsies on the couch for hours on end, you so are, whether you've said it or not." Kenzi shook her head.

"Kenzi, we're not." Uncharacteristically Bo cut Kenzi off and frowned deeply."We've talked about it, and Lauren has very specific lines and definitions about things, levels in relationships and we're not at that level." The succubus underlined the important distinction. "She's not ready for it, not so soon after Nadia."

"Nadia, right." The younger woman seemed almost slapped by the remembered information, having in a way totally pushed the woman to the back of her mind. The whole thing had been so tragically sad she didn't like to think about it.

"Exactly, think about it Kenz. I mean if I were Lauren, legitimately I think I'd be a basket case right now." Bo sighed hard. "First there was the whole cursed Nadia thing, then the whole awake thing, then the whole me having to..." She paused remembering that horrible night. "Then the venom issue, then the being killed, then the being brought back, then the being kidnapped and then being stalked to be used as a sex toy and punching bag by a pre-pubescent wolf, while all the while your entire future lies in the hands of a twenty two year old part time professional party guest, who has the power over you getting your freedom or being cursed to a lifetime of slavery." She breathed out. "I don't know how she even gets out of bed."

Kenzi really did try to take in all that Bo was saying, tried to sum up the absolute mountain of evidence that suggested the blonde shouldn't get out of bed in the morning, hell she should make a date with a handgun but then still looking at her best friend she smiled a sad smile.

"She gets out of bed the same way you did when you didn't know what you were, but you knew you'd killed someone the night before. She just gets out of bed, and deals with what she can." Kenzi summed up actually trying to make Bo see the two of them were kinda similar in a way. "The same way she did all those mornings before you Bo, when all she had was Nadia in a bubble and a lifetime of slavery." She reached out again to touch her best friend's arm. "A big part of the reason she gets out of bed right now is you baby doll. Because when she's with you, all the rest of that shit goes away for awhile and the stuff that doesn't, well I know Lauren believes like I do that you'll be there in any way you can to help."

Bo closed her eyes for a moment before she turned and looked over her shoulder at the clock in the kitchen with a frown to see that it was seven thirty four.

"She should be here already." The succubus pushed off the couch undoing the bow on the back of the apron as she stood, she pulled it off over her head and tossed it at the sink. She headed straight to get her phone and speed dialled the blonde's number.

Kenzi knew she couldn't actually do anything to help, the world just seemed piled up against her best friend at the moment. She just watched Bo pace around staring angrily at the phone, clearly the call having not been picked up before Bo dialled again.

"She's not a law breaker.." Kenzi pointed out. "It's a three hundred dollar fine if you're caught talking on a cell phone."

Bo flashed Kenzi an 'I don't care, she should answer' look just as the door to the club house swung open. In response to the noise, Bo's skittered across the floor to check and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw it was Lauren.

"Hi, you're here." Bo grinned at her, trying to stick her phone in her back pocket.

"I know, I'm half an hour late I'm sorry." Lauren apologized pulling her jacket off while moving straight to Bo, pressing her lips against the brunette's cheek almost in an entrance out of a 1950's sitcom. "The traffic was hell." She added moving to hang her coat up and take off her boots.

"We were just brainstorming on what to order in for food." Kenzi piped up from the couch smiling at the Doctor, remembering the list of unfair crap that Bo had just given her in her head and comparing it to the put together, slightly flustered but otherwise okay looking blonde that stood before her. It really was impressive how resilient she was. "I'm saying Dumpling City and Bo is pushing for Italian. What are you in the mood for?"

"Well pasta is always a win with me, but the two aren't that far apart, I could pick up if you like." Lauren smiled between Bo and Kenzi with a soft shrug.

"No, it's cool, I'll order delivery but..." Kenzi got up and headed to the stairs. "I think I have a coupon upstairs." She excused herself knowing how high strung Bo was at the moment. She would order dinner, which with any luck, after a little talking and Bo hopefully sharing what was going on in her head, the other two women in the house would be too busy together upstairs to eat until much later.

"She'll look after it." Bo agreed moving over closer to Lauren. "How are you doing?" She asked reaching up to tuck a lock of blonde hair behind Lauren's ear, her desire to be close to the blonde suddenly a little overwhelming with all the emotion still swirling from her conversation with Kenzi and the rest of the day catching up with her.

"Tired." Lauren admitted moving closer to the succubus without urging. She rested her hand on the brunette's hip. "The Lab's been chaotic."

"Well there is nothing chaotic here, well other than Kenzi." Bo let her body settle into a loose embrace with the blonde. "I could run you a bath." She offered wanting to do whatever she could to make Lauren's time away from the lab enjoyable.

"No, I want to stay conscious for a while thank you." Lauren chuckled softly as she looked into Bo's eyes, the soft laugh evening out, her features changing into a frown. "What's wrong?" She asked picking up on the traces of tension in Bo's body and features.

"Nothing, now that you're here." Bo answered first with a soft smile, but she could tell it wouldn't be enough to abate Lauren's concern. "I was just talking about things with Kenzi, about all the crap with the light, and about how I can't stand having to give them an inch because they have rules."

"I know." Lauren moved closer still and actually rested her head on Bo's shoulder in what was almost an odd move for the blonde. "But to be honest Bo, I'm slightly tired of fighting all the time against forces that I can't win. In the end its just four walls, it doesn't change what we feel, what we know." She nuzzled against skin and leather.

"Nothing could change that, not location, not anything the light fae can do." Bo encircled the blonde with her arms and held her tightly.

"By the way Hale asked me to thank you for information you sent back to him from the docks this afternoon." Lauren stayed in the embrace for a long moment before easing away to wander over to her work desk. Obviously curious as to why it looked a little like a bomb site, with books all over it and the lamp at an obscure angle. "Let me guess, Kenzi has found herself a work station." She asked Bo with a chuckle, sliding out a piece of paper from her 'in' tray that had an almost prefect boot mark on it.

"She's been busy all evening reading the rules of fae investigations, apparently she has to read it to make her investigation valid. She's sure it's a stall tactic." Bo gave a chuckle back. "When I asked she blamed that on Mr. Kickers, but she did put on some slippers after that."

"He wears a size seven? Surprisingly large for a stuffed animal that is in its entirety nine inches tall." Lauren summed up with a bright smile.

"Mr. Kickers is a mystery." Bo held up her hands in mock surrender. "Is it okay? I can tell her to stay off if you want."

"It's fine, just promise me you won't let her drop the microscope on the floor or use the digital scales as a special seat or dance floor for Mr. Kickers." Lauren chuckled moving from the desk to sit on the couch, immediately leaning back against the cushions. "You know I never thought I would love this couch." She admitted shaking her head more to herself than anyone else. "Considering the lumber support it offers is less than ideal."

"Lauren..." Bo could hear the strange tone that accompanied her sitting down to join the blonde on the couch. "Can we talk about one more serious thing before we just relax and chill out for as long as you can stay?" She made the request in a soft voice.

"Well I was planning on staying the night, but if that's a prob..." Lauren's eyes followed her.

"All night?" Bo's face literally lit up and for the moment at least any concern she had disappeared. "That's perfect and you know it is." She leaned sideways in her seat to smile at the blonde, feeling a little like it was Christmas morning all of a sudden.

"Well..." Lauren did roll her eyes a little. "I was hoping you wouldn't be cursing or running for the door. Now..." She let her face fall into a more even neutral expression. "What did you want to talk about, that is obviously important and serious. Or shall I guess?" The blonde turned to sit a little sideways on the couch cushion, leaning her back on the arm of the couch. Bo just looked at her to continue. "Dyson." The blonde summed up her response in the short name.

"Yes." Bo was almost not surprised that Lauren had guessed it already. "With you having to spend more time at the compound, I... I don't want to sound overbearing but I don't want you to see him. For any reason, there are enough other people who can look after him. I don't want you anywhere near him, until you are completely ready and I'm there with you to face him."

Lauren didn't say anything for a long moment and it was hard for Bo to glean any idea of what it was that the blonde might be thinking from the look on her face.

"Did you decided that before or after visiting him this morning?" Lauren asked trying to keep her voice neutral but there was a slight edge to her tone as she reached up and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Hale told me that you and Kenzi had both gone to see him when I asked for the evening off and permission to stay here for the night."

"Okay, I officially hate the new Ash, I was going to tell you." Bo underlined immediately.

"Dyson is my patient Bo, any change in his behaviour or health, mentally, physically or just his general demeanour is important, especially if it has an explanation." Lauren replied softly. "The technician who administered his meal time medications and did his observations this afternoon was concerned about him. I mentioned it to Hale as part of my summary of the day and he offered the information as a possible explanation." She explained how the course of events had played out. She then sighed softly. "I wish you had talked to me before going to see him." She looked across at Bo there was an edge of disappointment to her voice.

"Lauren it wasn't planned. I... I just went to talk to Hale and he mentioned Dyson and it got me thinking..." Bo began to explain how it had all gone down, having no intention of hiding any of it from the blonde. "Then it felt odder that I wasn't going to see him when I knew I had to some time, and I needed to see him to prove to myself what everyone was saying about him being different was true, that he was himself again and no long a threat."

"And never in that thinking did it occur to you that I wouldn't want you to go in there alone? Without me to support you? I was five minutes away in the lab Bo." Lauren countered softly.

Bo locked her jaw for a moment, clearly feeling the truth ringing through Lauren's disappointment and now wishing that she had done just that but of course she was Bo, and sometimes Bo didn't think well on her feet.

"I guess..." She tried to explain herself, not in with just a cheesy apology but to actually explain herself. "I didn't think and I was so focused on confronting him, proving to him that he didn't win, that all the craziness hadn't beat us." She watched Lauren just nod for a moment.

"Well that doesn't matter now, and you don't have to worry because I am in no hurry to see him. I have a dedicated medical team around me who I trust, they are more than capable of taking care of Dyson and his needs directly." The blonde summed up her stance on the subject. "The accommodations Hale has assigned me are in the residential zone of the compound and not anywhere near the restricted zone."

"Good." Bo had to nod her happiness at the news but she still frowned. For a moment she toyed with the idea of further trying to explain herself but it dawned on her how tired Lauren looked, and talking about her feelings really didn't need to be a priority right now. "I'm sorry if I don't think sometimes, when I should, I wish I had now."

"Two different people never see the same thing the same way Bo, that's just the nature of the world." Lauren gave a soft shrug of her shoulder. "I really need to change out of these clothes." She added pushing up off the couch and heading towards the stairs. "I'll just be a few minutes." She smiled softly at the brunette before she disappeared up them.

-x-


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimers: All original property is owned by Showcase, and we do not infer that any characters, creations or the concept of 'Lost Girl' are our property and the following fan fiction has been written purely for entertainment purposes only.

Pairings: Bo/Lauren Set directly after our story "Faeral", the third story in an AU plot line.

Rating: M (Contains scenes of violence, sexuality and nudity)

**Faery Tale: Chapter Ten**

By: The Rainbowwriters

For a long moment after Lauren had left to get changed, Bo just sat on the couch, hearing Lauren's carefully chosen words, hearing the soft but tired and disappointed tone repeat in her head. As it did Bo focused on the facts the words revealed to her that she had indeed not thought about. In turn that made the succubus angry at herself, after all if she wanted Lauren to listen to her and trust her, didn't she have to give the blonde the same consideration? She felt suddenly, like she had for such a long time, as if she were a little girl trying to survive in a grown ups world that she didn't fit in or quite understand, but this time it felt more scarey, because this time it involved Lauren, and something she really didn't want to lose.

Finally unable to stop herself, Bo pushed up off the couch and hurried up the stairs, pushing through the partially closed bedroom door just as Lauren was pulling a loose sweater over her head. She eased the door closed behind her.

"You asked me once about what I see when I look at people." Bo started in a soft voice, but she made sure that it was loud enough to be heard as she stood a little way away from her lover, just looking at her with a soft look of love. "And you asked me what I saw when I looked at you, and I remember giving you an answer that was..." She paused for a second, "A little flirty and well basically a throw away answer then because I was afraid to tell you the truth."

"Bo?" Lauren turned from where she was stood in front of the full length mirror close to the dresser drawers by the side of the bed, a quizzical frown softly creasing her features.

"I hadn't known you long and I couldn't tell you what I really saw. I couldn't say that that you were so bright, like a lighthouse, making everything... everyone else in that bar seem dark compared to you, that being so close to you that night made it hard to even try to answer the questions you were asking." Bo didn't think to hold in check anything that she was thinking or feeling as she began to move towards the blonde. "Just like every day since then, when you come into the room and it is like the sun rises and I get dazzled, distracted, and when you leave it sets."

Lauren let her head dip forward slightly almost shyly, her hair falling forward onto her face a little as a soft smile danced onto her lips.

"You're the only person I've ever fallen in love with at first sight." Lauren's voice was a soft purred whisper, "First touch." She added remembering their first meeting at the lab.

Not trusting her mouth to keep talking, as it often seemed to say the stupidest things, Bo just walked the rest of the distance to her lover and pulled the blonde into an intense kiss that ignited a fire neither of them wanted to deny.

-x-

Kenzi had a method to her madness, living with a succubus had taught her how to read the signs without having to actually get a face full of intimate moments. So hanging to the side of Bo's door, she stood silent for a long moment. Subtly judging the lack of conversation and occasional squeak from the bed that her hunch had been right.

"More pasta for me." She rubbed her hands together just as a long moan of Lauren's name made any guess she had made completely obviously true. "Really, what is it about the girl sex and her." She shook her head and went back downstairs to unpack the recently delivered meals.

-x-

Lauren lounged out fully on the cream coloured chaise-lounge, sipping something rich and exotic from the martini glass in her hand. Glancing across the marble tiled floor over to where the pointed toes of a pair of black leather boots were visible. Slowly her eyes traced up with leather, taking in the semi shiny material, the strap that crossed over the ankle and was fastened at the side in a big silver buckle that rested just above where the long stem of a slender high heel began to descend back to the marble floor.

Lauren's eyes continued to trace up the dark leather that clung tightly to shapely muscular legs like a second skin, broken in their smoothness only by a second broad strap that wound around the leg like a coiled serpent around the toned calf. Reaching the knee, the boot flared forming a high knee fan, more for show than protection. The high leather flare hid the midnight blue, skin tight legging that was worn beneath the boots and covered the shapely thigh that ran up from out of them. It all lead to yet another strap of leather, this one holding the base of a thigh harness, in which was stored a brightly shining dagger.

The blonde's brown eyes continued to follow up, now more focused on the shiny metal, as the slender blade led up to an almost hidden handle that was held secure higher on the thigh. The leggings ended a little higher, low on the hip, revealing a broad strip of smooth skin which drew Lauren's eyes easily away from the weapon.

Refocused Lauren breathed in deeply as she let her eyes travel upwards, enjoying the tight fitting leather bodice she encountered next. It cupped and accentuated firm pert breast of the same creamy coffee coloured skin. Lauren let her tongue slip out and moisten her lips as she let her eyes linger on them, watching the soft rise and fall in the flesh, the skin pressing against the tight leather with every inhalation.

"Like what you see?" A voice, oddly echoing and airy filled Lauren's senses as the blonde felt herself slip into the same breathing rhythm as the woman in blue and black ensemble in front of her. Though her eyes had not yet reached the speaker's gaze, and the voice was familiar but she couldn't quite place it.

"Yes." The blonde whispered.

"Of course you do." The voice sounded both disappointed but at the same time reticent.

Suddenly before Lauren could look at the figure's face, a movement to her right made her turn. A frown creased her brow as another tall, beautiful woman walked out towards her lounger. Her curled hair tied back in a loose pony tail, casual khaki pants and a white t-shirt made her look carefree and relaxed.

"Nadia?" Lauren sat up on the chaise-lounge, the glass in her hand disappearing. The material beneath her shifting from cream satin to the familiar white coarse fabric of the couch in her apartment, the marble tiles melting into cool concrete. "No." The blonde shook her head as she blinked to find herself pushed up, Nadia's hands at her throat and pain suddenly filled her body as those hands squeezed.

Behind her Lauren could suddenly see Bo, but there was fear in the succubus' eyes, she could see it, sense it and it made her sudden terror even more intense.

"I want this to stop." Lauren felt tears welling in her eyes and she pulled at the hands around her neck, trying to loosen them somehow.

"I can make it stop Lauren." It was the airy voice again, but still Lauren couldn't place it, couldn't name its owner. A glint of light on metal caught her eye as panic flooded her brain, the edges of her vision dimming into just the bright gleam.

"Do it." Lauren pushed the words out with the last air in her lungs. "Make it stop. Kill her, do it for me."

No sooner had the words left Lauren's lips then the world changed but not how the blonde expected it to even deep in the nightmare. The hands around her throat melted away as Nadia sidestepped and turned towards Bo. In her hands suddenly was a long razor sharp samurai sword, and with it Nadia spun in a full three sixty, creating a wide arc of thick red blood as the blade removed Bo's head from it's shoulders.

-x-

"NO!" Lauren cried out and literally arched her back off the mattress, sweat pouring off her forehead, bleeding back into the already wet edges of her hairline.

Bo had been on her side, faced away from the blonde asleep. The last memory her body had was of Lauren curled in behind her, so the fact that her back was cold gave her an instant idea that her lover had rolled away in her sleep some time ago.

"Lauren?" Bo's eyes shot open with panic as the idea that Lauren had screamed cut through any idea of being asleep, she instantly rolled and found the naked blonde beside her in bed. Pulling up onto her knees she swivelled to check what was going on with her lover. "Lauren, what's wrong?" She put her arm around the blonde's back trying to help calm her. "You're awake, it's okay... whatever it was you're okay."

"I... oh god..." Lauren tried to breath, swallow and focus all at the same time and achieved none of them very successfully. "Oh Bo." She reached out a slightly flailing hand for Bo's arm.

"I'm right here, it's okay." Bo soothed her over and over, catching her hand and holding it tightly. "It was just a nightmare."

It was literally the next second when the bedroom doors swung open and Kenzi armed with her katana jumped into the open space between the doors.

"Prepare for pain bitches!" She announced loudly, bouncing lightly on the balls of her feet, her sleep mask still up on her forehead, her bright green sleep pants high up around her waist, flapping around her mid calves as she bounced. "Where are the bitches?" She squinted into the darkness of Bo's bedroom when the immediate foe she was looking for didn't appear.

"Lauren had a nightmare, it's okay, go back to bed Jet Li." Bo shook her head at her and concentrated on her lover. "Just try to relax, just breathe for a minute."

Lauren focused on Bo's voice and not on the younger woman's interruption, trying to follow her lover's advice and just focus on controlling the flow of air in and out of her lungs. They already hurt from the erratic pattern of breathing the nightmare had forced on them.

"I'm... sorry." She apologized as soon as she had any available breath.

"Ssssh, don't be, you can't control the fact you had a nightmare." Bo continued to soothe, rubbing in a large circle over Lauren's back. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No." Lauren shook her head rapidly. "It's... I... I just don't understand, I don't really have... that is I don't remember the last time I had a nightmare." She admitted wiping her brow with her hand, hating the clamminess of her skin.

"Baby," Bo's voice was soft, soothing and gentle, "It's been a little while since you pulled an all nighter like you have at work, you're just overtired. It happens, it's natural, horrible but natural." Bo assured her. "I had one the night you weren't here, it happens to the best of us."

"Last night?" Lauren turned a little looking at Bo with a softer frown. "Oh Bo, you didn't tell me that."

"I didn't tell you because it was stupid... it was one of those dreams where you think you've woken up but you've woken up into a dream. Kenzi was sitting on my chest, pinning me to the bed, I could hardly breathe and no matter what I did I couldn't shake her off me. She was so heavy and she was breathing weird and staring at me with all white eyes. Creepy weird nightmares, they happen." Bo assured her, giving her the short run down, hoping Lauren would share with her in turn.

"Mine was about Nadia." Lauren revealed the small painful detail.

"And the Garuda, when I..." Bo didn't finish when she said the tiny almost silent phrase, her hand rubbing a little slower against Lauren's skin.

"Sort of." Lauren nodded swallowing more successfully this time not actually wanting to recall the dream in any way, let alone talk about it with Bo.

"You can tell me anything, including about a nightmare that is just your subconscious purging itself." She remembered the fact Lauren had told her once when she'd mentioned some of the nightmares she'd had.

"I know and that makes me so..." Lauren paused. "Happy." She summed up totally honestly. "Happier than I think you know. Do you think we could just lay down again?"

"We can do anything you want." Bo reached behind them, fluffing the pillows into the centre of the bed before she leaned back and invited the blonde to cuddle into her.

-x-

It was just after seven in the morning when Bo came quietly down the stairs in the club house. Lauren had agreed to be back at the lab by nine and the succubus had wanted to pamper her with breakfast and coffee , maybe a bath or at least a shower before she left, especially with the night she had had though thankfully after the nightmare, they had slept together with no more disturbances or nightmares.

As she walked down the stairs she was somewhat surprised to note the light already on the bottom floor. A sense of surprise that Kenzi was up, was immediately replaced by a sense of panic when she saw that her best friend was sprawled out on her back on top of the island. Her head was lulled back onto the hard surface, turned away from Bo's view.

"Kenzi?" The succubus questioned as she stepped off the stairs taking the first few steps towards the kitchen quickly, unnerved when her best friend didn't stir or respond in any way. "Kenzi?" Bo moved over to Kenzi's side, frowning hard when she reached the island to discover that the younger woman was most definitely not conscious.

That however was not the most alarming thing about her young friend, that distinction was awarded to the dark stain of blood that covered the front of the grey skull patterned sleep shirt she was wearing.

"Kenzi! Oh God, Lauren!" Bo couldn't help but add the blonde's name to her cry as she moved to grab her best friend by the shoulders, pulling her into an upright position and shaking her slightly. "Kenzi, come on." She shook a little harder. "Please wake up." She held up Kenzi's head with her hand trying to see if there was any signs of consciousness.

"Bo?" Kenzi groaned the succubus' name groggily, blinking blue eyes open after much effort.

"Bo?" A bright curious voice came from the stairs, belonging to Lauren who was up and into a robe in record time. A far cry from the dopey wreck in Bo's arms that she had been hours before.

"Lauren, Lauren you have to... she's covered in blood, she was passed out on the island." Bo tried to relay the strange desperation of the situation as she held Kenzi up and tried to clear dark hair from off her best friends face. "What happened? Where does it hurt?" She shot the questions at Kenzi even as she used one hand to look her over for injury.

Of course hearing Bo's words, Lauren literally flew to arrive to Kenzi's other side. She started a more methodical check for what could be the source of the blood, at the same time she checked the half conscious woman's pulse and gauged her respiration rate.

"Bo, I don't like this." The blonde frowned after the quick assessment. "Her pulse is fifty four, her respiratory rate is well below normal." She looked at her lover. "I need you to get her down from there and over to the couch." She directed, briefly putting her hand on Bo's arm, looking into brown eyes for confirmation before moving to pick up her medical bag from near the door.

Bo instantly pulled the once again totally unresponsive Kenzi into her arms and carried her over to where Lauren wanted her, laying her best friend down with ultimate care.

"Kenzi, please, come on tell me what happened? It's okay, just tell me." Bo's voice turned to a more urgent beg as she dropped down onto her knees by the side of the couch, whilst tyring to give Lauren room.

"Bo, I know this is asking a lot, but I need you to look around around the kitchen see if you can see anything unusual." Lauren urged the succubus as she took out a stethoscope and blood pressure cuff to do a more specific check of Kenzi's vitals.

"No you're right, it's okay." Bo could hear the shake in her voice as she nodded to vigorously, pushing up as she looked around with wide open brown eyes. Nothing seemed out of place in the living room, so she headed straight back to the island noting that there was blood droplets on the there. Moving around the barrier into the kitchen proper, she noticed more droplets on the floor and began to follow them back across the room towards the stairs.

When Bo was there she looked up and down the hall to the basement door to see that the impromptu latch was missing and the large trunk that she had placed in front of the cellar door was now at an oblique angle away from the open door.

"NO!" Bo growled, her voice full of anger as she stormed to grab a baseball bat from its place leaned against the wall. "Whatever the hell is down there is going to die!" She announced loudly beginning a fast march to the open door.

The sudden shout from her lover momentarily distracted Lauren from her assessment from Kenzi.

"Bo no." She tried to get Bo to listen to her, "We need to focus, if whatever was down there is loose in the house and has hurt Kenzi, we need to get out of here." Lauren breathed a sigh of relief when Bo stalled and merely slammed the door to the basement closed. "I know Kenzi hates the lab..." Lauren continued, her mind whirling trying to pick a 'good' patch fix for this bad situation. "I have lots of equipment still at my place, we can take her there. It's also easier to sterilize than here."

"I'll carry her to the car." Bo didn't take anywhere as much effort to convince as Lauren would have thought and with little effort she had Kenzi up into her arms.

-x-

There was one major immediate issue that was bothering Bo as she paced nearby to where Kenzi was lying on Lauren's couch. The doctor working to finish her full physical assessment and take the young woman's blood to work up in her home lab. During the entire ride over, the entire journey to where she now lay, and even now during the blonde's assessment, Kenzi still hadn't really 'woken up'. All of her words had been out of context or barely audible, she could give them no real account of what had happened to her and despite Bo's repeated questioning in the car, she really couldn't even answer some of Lauren's most basic questions about how she was feeling.

"Why is she like that?" Bo finally asked the blonde when she had finished taking the important blood samples and had moved over to her work desk. She kept her eyes glancing back at her best friend on the couch watching her like a hawk for changes. Kenzi, for her part, was laying where she had been placed a little fitfully pulling up an arm or her leg to bring it to her body periodically before lowering it it again.

"I'm not sure." Lauren replied honestly glancing up at her lover from where she now sat on a stool already beginning to prep for her tests. "I can't find any open wounds, or obvious bites or sting marks, I really don't even know what it is I am looking for." She added breathing out with a hard frown. "I know you don't want to leave and I don't want to put you in danger but I need to know what was in that basement." She looked at Bo, an obvious trace of desperation in her eyes. "I'm going to get her changed out of her clothes, into some scrubs, go over her body check for anything unusual. Then I'm going to get her on basic fluids, I have a functions monitor here somewhere." She glanced behind her at a closed closet sure that was where she had stored it. "But if something has injected something toxic into her system I need to know what and the sooner I do the better for Kenzi." She looked again at Bo. "I don't have to tell you to be careful do I?" She added with a totally different frown on her face this time.

"I will be careful I promise, and I will find out what did this." Bo nodded taking one last glance back at Kenzi. "Is it better for you if it's alive or dead?"

"I don't care." Lauren shook her head. "Recently alive should be good enough." She instantly understood what Bo was getting at. "Call me the instant you find anything, a verbal description over the phone will give me a head start until I actually have the creature in my hands." She encouraged the succubus to keep in contact. "I'll do everything I can for Kenzi." She added glancing at the younger woman on the couch. "Everything I know medically right now tells me she's not in immediate medical danger, she's just..." She paused and looked back at Bo. "Not right either and with fae the term not right is never a good one." She tried to make her lover understand why she might seem a little more edgy than she usually did. "If it's an under fae that's been drawn to you it would suggests that it's an energy feeder of some kind and something like that feeding off a human life source isn't good." Lauren shook her head, frowning at the confusing complexity of the situation.

"It's serious, I understand." Bo simplified all of that down into the not so simple words. "I'll call as soon as I get anything." She leaned to press her lips to Lauren ever so briefly, already on the move to the door before it seemed she had even kissed her.

-x-

The dark stairway into the basement was first broken by the very stiff beam of a high wattage flash light and then by the tip of a very sharp sword, the metallic blade reflecting up to finally the arrival of the Succubus that was holding it as she came as quietly as she could down the stairs.

She couldn't say she felt fear exactly. No, fear was something that made you not do what she was doing, which was heading right down into the dank basement to find whatever it was that had dared to mess with her best friend. She felt anger, she decided as she did a sweep of the room with the flashlight and almost immediately found the beam showing her a bloody mess in the very centre of the open space ahead of her. Within the blood and gore was the relatively small football sized body of something she could tell was furry, and very dead.

Taking a breath, she moved the beam away from the corpse, hoping now somehow this was the source of the blood on Kenzi's shirt. Her problem now was figuring out what had left the bloody corpse there in the first place for her best friend to find. Checking every corner, she poked the blade even in around the ancient washing machine but she found nothing other than the leftovers in the middle of the room and leftover spider webs.

Finally satisfied nothing underfae or fae in general was about to leap out of a dark corner and attack her, Bo moved to the centre of the room bending down to look at what was left of what she could now tell was a raccoon. The little creatures face was splashed with blood but the telltale thief's mask gave the dead and disemboweled critter away.

Standing up from the gore, Bo took out her cellphone and dialled Lauren's number, happy when the blonde picked up almost before the first ring had ended.

"The only thing in the basement in one very dead smeared over most of my floor." Bo filled her in immediately. "I can't see anything special left near the corpse, no weird fluids or fur that doesn't appear to belong to our late friend."

"A Raccoon?" Lauren repeated Bo's discovery back at her contemplatively. "Could have been a feed kill, any number of underfae gain nutrition from such things..."

"You mean whatever this is has upgraded from eating mice to eating raccoon?" Bo's voice showed how icy the thought made her feel, the main reason something fae related would go from one food source to another was that its appetite had grown because it had. "I'll stick the coon in a bag when I finish sweeping the property, if I find anything else I'll let you know. This thing could have been in here for weeks, it has to have left some evidence of itself."

"Wait Bo." Lauren was obvious processing thoughts quickly. "The club house is big, very big and if this thing has been in there for a while it knows where to hide, it's been doing it for a while now, you'll never find it. We need to think of a way to make it come to us and for that we need more of an idea of what it might be." She offered the plan logically. "I really need to focus on Kenzi, at least for a while, before I turn to research so our best bet is probably Trick." She pointed out the obvious.

"How is she?" Bo easily found herself sidetracked by the very mention of the younger woman.

"I managed a fairly thorough body check, but nothing obvious." Lauren sounded a little disheartened. "The raccoon will help there are better tests I can run on it."

"Okay, I'll bag the raccoon and head to Trick, give him all the details, see if it jogs any memories of underfae for him and then come straight back." Bo acknowledged the logical idea and for the first time in along time her mind went to think of Dyson in a favourable way, after all his nose could follow and track whatever this was. The next moment she started cursing him again for what he'd become. "Call if you need anything."

"I will, I might have a list of things I need you to get from the compound for me later." Lauren added trying to think as far ahead as she could.

"Just let me know." Bo waited for the blonde to say anything else and then knowing they both understood the time sensitivity of what was going on she flipped the phone closed, and having a moment of brainstorm did what Kenzi always did and took a few photos of the scene with her camera. She knew that Lauren would want the real gross corpse, but for Trick's help maybe a photo would serve the same purpose.

-x-


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimers: All original property is owned by Showcase, and we do not infer that any characters, creations or the concept of 'Lost Girl' are our property and the following fan fiction has been written purely for entertainment purposes only.

Pairings: Bo/Lauren Set directly after our story "Faeral", the third story in an AU plot line.

Rating: M (Contains scenes of violence, sexuality and nudity)

**Faery Tale: Chapter Eleven**

By: The Rainbowwriters

"I know it's vague but..." Bo watched as her grandfather studied the phone with a distinct frown on his face. When she had arrived at the Dal with the news of what was going on, he'd immediately ushered her downstairs into his private alcoves. "But whatever did this, hurt Kenzi."

The Blood King shuffled over towards one of the book shelves in his back room shaking his head slightly as he picked up a large volume from the second shelf and carried it back over to sit down opposite where Bo was stood near his old desk. At any other time Bo might have noted with a fond smile that her 'World's Best Grandfather' photo frame, that held a picture of her with the Falls in the background, was sat proudly in the middle of his desk on a square of velvet.

"In light of what happened to Kenzi, unfortunately it could be any number of things." The older fae mumbled as he ran his finger down the index before flipping to a specific section.

If he had been looking at his granddaughter's face he would have seen the strange shade of green she seemed to go instantly when he spoke.

"In light of what happened to Kenzi? You, you said that like something other than these two encounters have happened to Kenzi." Bo jumped on the choice of words immediately.

"The Norn incident Bo." Trick looked up, confusion filling his face as he saw how thrown she was by his answer. "As much as we all like to believe such events happen without consequence..." He frowned harder. "Bubbling black substances and ominous words are rarely fleeting gestures of good will."

"Norn incident?" Bo eyebrow arched up as a muscle in her cheek visibly tweaked. "Kenzi went, she cut the tree, she got Dyson's mojo back. What bubbling black substance are you talking about?"

"She hasn't told you." Trick breathed out as the realization of the situation hit him. "I had assumed by now she would have."

"How about you tell me?" Bo gave him a thin concerned smile.

"Though the event did go much as you described from what she told me, your friend missed out the part that included her disturbing and breaking a glass jar, that splashed over the floor and her arm I believe." Trick recounted the brief information he'd gotten from Kenzi. "Something that the Norn called a 'gift'." He explained to Bo.

"When we make Kenzi better, I am going to kill her." Bo snarled to herself as she took in the news. "Okay, so considering the Norn incident, what do you think it might be?"

"Well I was suggesting more that considering the Norn incident it is not necessarily you that this underfae may be drawn to." Trick countered, looking up at the succubus with a worried frown.

"I'm not even going to ask if you know what black bubbling substance it was, because it sounds so nice I'm sure there are a hundred ugly things it could be." Bo frowned with him. "Okay so if it is an underfae that is attracted to Kenzi, what kind do that and kill small wildlife?"

"Quite a number." Trick began trying to make a mental list of the best choices. "In explanation of her current state some have a paralysing bite, others with a venomous spray that they use to confuse and intoxicate their prey. Others still have a combination of both, and the very nasty kind, well let's just hope it's not one of those." He closed the book and looked at Bo. "From the photograph I have to say it seems like a very messy kill, it may cross off a few creatures from my list as they would always eat all of their kill, bones and fur."

"Which means what?" Bo was hopeful he would have something to add so that she could get back to Lauren's considering this thing was centring on Kenzi.

"That it could be young, inexperienced, unaccustomed to killing." He pointed out looking at the photo seriously. "Or..." He paused frowning more, his face taking on a more disturbed look as he handed her back the phone having seen enough.

"Or..." Bo repeated instantly.

"It is not an it, but a pack of its." Trick barely had the words out by the time Bo was backtracking towards the stairs in a jog.

"Call me if you come up with anything... anything." She stressed knowing that he'd logically need time to figure this out. "I have to get back to Lauren's." She waved a hand at him in thanks as she went up the stairs two at a time.

-x-

When Bo finally walked into Lauren's apartment, she tried to calm her racing thoughts that had threatened to overwhelm her as she raced there from the Dal. First had been the news that Kenzi hadn't told her about her entire encounter with the Norn, and then had been her grandfather's honest concern over what it could 'actually' be. She'd been disturbed already at the thought that something or a dozen 'nasties' that could be living in her basement, but the idea that one or more underfae, possibly an entire pack, could be hunting Kenzi because of what the Norn had 'gifted' her, well it made Bo's skin crawl with fear.

The last thing she wanted to do was concern Kenzi with any of this, all the younger woman needed to do right now was get better. Bo was more than happy to take on whatever it was that was hurting them, if only she could figure out what it was and she really hoped now that she had a sliver of information it would help Lauren in some way with her treatment.

The scene that met her as she closed the door didn't give her any immediate sense of relief. Kenzi was still on the couch under a thick quilt, in fresh clean scrubs that was visible at her shoulders. She appeared to be asleep or at least sedated, her body no longer twitching and flinching as it had been when Bo had left.

Lauren, in contrast, was bent over the microscope at her work desk, frowning at something as she made a note on a clipboard nearby before she stood up and headed over to the Succubus.

"We have to talk." Bo began knowing that getting the information shared between them was more important then a careful lead up. She made a quick glance at Kenzi.

"I gave her something mild to help her body relax, I didn't want her hurting herself with the spasms." Lauren followed her lover's eyes, feeling her stomach do a flip flop at the brunette's first words.

"Trick told me something, that might explain what is going on." Bo nodded thankful for the explanation of the younger woman's current state. "When Kenzi went to the Norn, it wasn't all chainsaw massacre and then here's what you came for like she told me. Kenzi broke a bottle, a bubbling black goo of some sort spilled on her arm and apparently the Norn called it a gift." She watched the frown that pulled down the corners of Lauren's mouth. "He thinks maybe whatever was in that jar is attracting this underfae. He's worried that the kill was so messy that it might even be a pack of something. I came back here immediately because this thing might not be at my house for long if its lost its Kenzi."

Lauren seemed to take a moment to take in what Bo was saying, nodding at the new information but Bo could instantly see that it did nothing to relieve the lines of real hard worry on the blonde's face that were already there when she arrived.

"We have another problem Bo, and I don't know how to tell you." Lauren shook her head as she glanced back at Kenzi.

"Just tell me." Bo gave a soft sigh not sure what Lauren could have to tell her but knowing it just needed to be said at this point so she could formulate some sort of plan.

"Kenzi's blood tests don't make any sense." Lauren turned and walked back to her desk and picked up her clip board.

"And sense how?" Bo questioned following her over.

"I've been a doctor for eight years, nearly six of those I have spent studying the fae, " Lauren began with a soft annoyed sigh. "And I have never seen anything like this." She looked at Bo, "If Kenzi were a fae Bo, I would be afraid that she was dying."

"But she's not a fae." Bo said the obvious and somehow stupid sounding statement. "I get it..." She put up her hand when she saw Lauren's look of 'that's what I just said', knowing that her shock at the word dying had made her brain fall out. "What do your results mean since she's not a fae?"

"No, you don't get it because what I mean by that is that her blood contains decaying fae DNA." Lauren flipped over a sheet of paper on her clipboard and showed her lover a graph, which naturally meant very little to the brunette. She pointed to the erratic lines that were all over it, and at the bottom was a small undulating red line. "See this, this shouldn't be here, at all." She pointed with her pen. "This is dead fae DNA, I would tell you exactly what it is but you don't need that level of information right now, other than to know it is in Kenzi's blood and I can only guess now that it is there because of the Norn."

"So whatever was dropped on her, is in Kenzi's bloodstream, contaminating her, doing this?" Bo made the small leap though she didn't have a clue about any of the science that might back her up.

"It's as good a guess as any and maybe better then some of my options." Lauren was glad to cross out some of the concerning ways she was afraid that the decaying DNA had been deposited inside Kenzi's body. "It's more than possible that whatever this liquid was is making Kenzi the equivalent of a beacon for these underfae, drawing them in." She breathed out. "Right now I'm thinking blood transfusions, full spectral DNA analysis at regular intervals to get an idea of what it is doing in there to her body systems." She tried to hold her lover's eyes and give her some hope but she knew right now she didn't have any. "To be honest I don't know what I'm thinking yet."

The two of them seemed to stand there in silence for a long moment, both contemplating what they were going to do next when Kenzi gave a groan from the couch.

"Kenzi?" Lauren hurried from the desk back to Kenzi's side, taking the young woman's wrist in her own and reading her pulse as she kept her eyes on Bo when her patient didn't give her any direct response. She was silent for the time it took to check Kenzi's pulse, counting off the beats as she watched the second hand of the large faced clock behind Bo's shoulder. "Wait..." As she thought about time, her brain started to actually process what Bo had just told her. "If something got spilled on Kenzi when she went to the Norn, that was..." She paused as she did the mental math. "A long time ago, medically speaking at any rate. If that substance was fae in nature, we have no way of knowing what harm it may have done to Kenzi's system, human and fae DNA are fundamentally incompatible." She pulled out a digital thermometer from the breast pocket of the green scrubs she was wearing and used it to get a reading from the brunette's ear. "We thought that Kenzi was sick because of something the underfae attracted to her did, but the events might not be that closely linked. Her illness could just be because of what is happening inside of her."

All of these facts made Bo sober more to the reality of what was going on. For days Kenzi had been sick, tired and hungry all the time it seemed, and they had just rolled along like it was nothing more than a hangover. She didn't understand why her best friend hadn't told her what had happened at the Norn, but she wished right now she had a time machine to go back and make her tell her well before now.

"What can we do with what we do know?" Bo had closed her eyes to take a centring breath before she opened them to look at Lauren as she fussed with the younger woman more.

"I need you to move her to the bed for me, and I've made a list of things I need from the compound. I made it before I had the information you brought back from Trick's, I'll add a few things to it." Lauren thought on her feet. "Do you think you could go get them for me?"

"Anything." Bo nodded, her fear of what was hunting Kenzi having turned into the even more frightening idea that something was inside of Kenzi hurting her. "What did Hale say?"

Lauren paused, both her thoughts and movements stalling for the first time since Bo had come in and met her lover's eyes.

"I... I haven't talked to him yet." Lauren shook her head realizing now that she'd been due into the lab hours before.

"I'll talk to him." Bo moved around the couch over closer to her. "I'll make sure he stresses to his cronies that you are working."

"I don't care, let them judge me." Lauren held her head up as she ran a hand over Kenzi's hair.

This was the only thing since the terror of finding Kenzi had began earlier in the morning, that brought a smile to Bo's face.

"I'll get everything you need and be back before you know it." Bo kept the smile and reached out to put her hand over Lauren's. "And we'll figure this out." She vowed letting her gaze drift to her best friend. 'We have too.' She thought nervously to herself.

-x-

Bo stood in front of Hale's desk, knowing exactly how the look on his face expressed the whirling of thoughts in his mind as she finished her explanation of what was going on. He'd initially been ready to playfully remind her that when his doctor was due to be at the lab bright and early, morning time with the succubus was no excuse for tardiness but when she'd started by explaining that Kenzi was sick, his entire demeanour had changed.

"I know that it's a lot to take in but can you sign this paper and get your minions working on getting these supplies and equipment ready and on there way to Lauren's?" Bo stuck the list from the blonde under his nose on his desk.

"If Kenzi is that sick Bo bring her here." Hale shook his head making the offer clearly as he stood up. "Protocol be damned, she is the Human Ambassador." His voice was a barely controlled tense snap. "I'll send an ambulance, a helicopter." He offered looking at the Succubus with clear concern.

"Hale, were you listening to me?" Bo gave him a sad, but understanding frown. She knew right now that he hadn't managed to get passed the idea that Kenzi was in danger. "I think Lauren would have brought her here if she thought that was a good idea, but she has dead fae DNA in her bloodstream... I think Lauren's afraid that bringing her before she knows what is going on is dangerous."

"But... but if my little momma is sick..." He sank down into his seat frowning hard.

"Look you get your people moving, then call Lauren and argue about where Kenzi should be, but little momma needs this stuff now." Bo moved around the desk picking up the phone receiver. "Hale, I know... I mean I think I know how much Kenzi means to you, this is me after all." She gave him a soft smile remembering how proud the Ash had been to walk into his coronation with the brunette on his arm. "Neither of us would do anything less then everything we can to help her." She wiggled it at him

The young Ash took the phone from her but put it down in its cradle and picked up the list from the doctor.

"They'll move faster if I'm there yelling at them." He pointed out moving towards the door. "Bo, Dyson should know about this." He added softly as he pulled open the heavy oak door holding her eyes as she moved to follow him.

This revelation momentarily took the speed out of her steps, as Bo realized that considering this was due to what the young woman had done to restore the wolf, he did deserve to know.

"Yes." She looked at the Siren with a frown. "Want to flip a coin?"

"The lab staff will only jump when I ask." Hale offered knowing that her last visit with him hadn't gone well but as far as he could decide, avoiding Dyson wasn't going to help her either.

"You're better at this job then you think." Bo glared at him and headed in the other direction away from where he would be heading to the lab.

-x-

Bo waited impatiently as the security door was unlocked and pushed into Dyson's room as soon as there was enough of an opening for her slim body. She still had an intense amount of anger towards the wolf bubbling right at the surface, anger that was right now being fuelled by the fact that because of him Kenzi was contaminated by some unknown Norn gift and could be, as she wasted time with him, dying. The anger even managed to mask the other still heavy and hard emotions that seeing Dyson stirred within her. But still Hale's words had been true, the wolf did have a right to know what was going on. He had always supported and protected Kenzi, and she tried to keep her brain from focusing on how this was another way he'd let someone down.

"Dyson?" She called out her voice loud, when she didn't find him in the main sitting area and the bedroom door was partially closed.

"Bo?" Dyson appeared a few seconds later, the biggest difference was that his arm was no longer in its large cast but was secured to his body in a full arm sling. "What's wrong?" He frowned hard at her, unable to believe he was seeing her twice in two days. "What has happened?"

"Kenzi is sick." Bo knew he would be able to tell by her face that the word was completely too small for what was going on. "She's... her blood is all messed up, and she's unresponsive."

"What?" A look of complete confusion filled the wolf's face. "But she was here, yesterday... I didn't... there wasn't anything..." he shook his head obviously unprepared for what the succubus had just said.

"Apparently a bottle got broke at the Norn's and something spilled on her. We think it's that causing everything." Not wanting to prolong her time in the claustrophobic feeling room Bo condensed the facts into the bare minimum, even if it didn't really seem to make much sense.

"The Norn?" He scrunched his face up more in non-comprehension of Bo's words then disbelief. "Something happened to her at the Norn's, she didn't tell me anything was spilt on her."

"She didn't tell anyone, well no, she told Trick about it." Bo hated to admit that she hadn't known but it was a fact. "Apparently a bottle got broken, she knocked into it and some black goo was splashed on her arm. Of course being Trick being Trick assumed Kenzi would tell me at least." She summed up the disappointments of the last few hours and then let out a frustrated sigh, realizing she had to explain things a little more in fairness to the wolf. "She hasn't been right since the Garuda, tired, sick stomach and then hungry, very hungry, and then all hung over like... we thought it was... well you know how Kenzi can drink when she decides its time to celebrate."

Dyson kept silent but nodded softly.

"We've also been finding dead mice in the club house, today we found a raccoon dead in the basement. Trick thinks whatever was spilt on Kenzi may be attracting some kind of underfae to the house." Bo went on in her explanation. "Then this morning I found Kenzi unconscious on the island covered in blood, we don't know what happened because she hasn't regained consciousness enough to tell us." the succubus felt her inner core fill with coldness as she said the words.

"What can I do?" Dyson looked down, every word about what was going on making him feel more and more useless considering where he was.

"Keep getting better. Use this down time to rack your brain, think of fae or underfae you've ever heard of that matches what's going on. You know more than I think I ever will." She summed up her own lacking as far as the world of the fae was concerned.

"I will." Dyson nodded. "Is she here at the lab? I could..."

"No." Bo stopped realizing her initial barked no had been a little sharp, "She's... You know Kenzi hates hospitals. She might not be conscious, but I don't want her waking up somewhere scarey." Bo turned away and glanced at the door, again feeling the pressure of the walls begin to press in a little. "Lauren is doing tests, looking after her."

Dyson watched the succubus for a moment and then stepped away from her towards the window giving her a lot of space.

"Bo, if any one can help Kenzi, it is Lauren, she's the best." He said, his voice soft as he kept his gaze away from her.

"She is." Bo nodded, "But I have to get her supplies..." She took the space Dyson offered and backed up to the door. "Hale has promised to keep you updated on any changes."

"That's all I ask." The wolf gave a nod.

Giving a sharp knock on the door Bo waited for it to be opened, a heaviness settling in the room.

"Bo I'm..." Dyson began turning to look at the succubus as the door opened.

"Don't." Bo raised her hand to stop whatever his words were going to be, whether it was an apology, or words of sympathy and hope, she wasn't ready to hear them, not from the person who a part of her blamed for at least some of this. She quickly slipped out of the room and hurried away to find Hale.

-x-


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimers: All original property is owned by Showcase, and we do not infer that any characters, creations or the concept of 'Lost Girl' are our property and the following fan fiction has been written purely for entertainment purposes only.

Pairings: Bo/Lauren Set directly after our story "Faeral", the third story in an AU plot line.

Rating: M (Contains scenes of violence, sexuality and nudity)

**Faery Tale: Chapter Twelve**

By: The Rainbowwriters

The Ash had ensured that everything Lauren had ordered was being assembled to be driven over to the apartment in a specially assigned truck, equipped with personnel assigned to unload it and confirm with the doctor that nothing else was required. Bo had to admit that, when she'd arrived back at the lab after seeing Dyson, everything he had arranged had impressed her. Especially since Hale had assured her that he'd supervise things there, giving her the opportunity to head straight back to the apartment.

The atmosphere of the apartment seemed calmer somehow when Bo arrived. Lauren was sat again behind her desk, no longer looking through the microscope but at a long printout of test results. Kenzi was upstairs in the main bedroom, where Bo had settled her before her trip to the compound and she could only hope that her lover being down here instead of upstairs meant that Kenzi had improved at least a little.

Hearing the sound of Bo's boots on the floor, Lauren looked up from her print outs and actually smiled at her lover.

"The Ash called, I understand thanks to you I can expect my supplies any minute." She explained the reason for her expression. "Thank you for being so prompt." She tucked her hair behind her ears.

"Thank you for having such an easy to read list even a group of Fae couldn't screw it up." Bo moved over to her and leaned down over the edge of the desk to be eye level with Lauren as she leaned on it. "Anything change?" She reached out one hand and repeated the move that Lauren had just made to tuck her hair behind her ear tenderly.

"I'm happy to tell you she's awake and even told me my taste in comforters was boring." Lauren expressed the other reason for the calmer atmosphere.

"She's awake?" Bo felt a instant sense of relief, it might not be a solution to what was going on but at least now Kenzi would help them understand what she was going through.

"Yes." Lauren reached out to put her hand on Bo's arm. "But she's experiencing the same memory issues she did after the first encounter." She made the admission knowing it would be Bo's next question. "She remembers coming in when I woke everyone up, going downstairs to eat the rest of her leftover pasta and falling asleep on the couch watching a movie she knows had Colin Firth in it but she couldn't remember the title."

"I was hoping she could give us more but I wasn't really expecting it." Bo acknowledged softly not wanting Lauren to think she was disappointed with what she was being told.

"I know but coming to and being lucid for a while is a very positive thing, and I think I have some idea of what might have happened this morning, well no it would be better to call it a hypothesis, a working guess maybe." The doctor began trying to get across what she had so far managed to gleam from the early blood results. "Right now Kenzi's blood, is for want of a better word, soup. I think the massive influx of adrenaline that occurred when she rushed into your room and then the second burst that was released during whatever happened in the basement caused a kind of toxic shock." She held Bo's eyes, making sure she keeping as much of the confusing and unnecessary scientific wording out of her explanation. "The body cannot handle too much adrenaline and with Kenzi's blood contaminated like it is, her body can't filter it out of her blood as it is too busy trying to deal with the invading DNA. I'm not saying that's all that is wrong, just more as an idea of why she was so unresponsive this morning." She tried to get Bo to understand what part of the problem she was trying to define.

"I get it, too much all at once." Bo nodded that she understood where the blonde was trying to make a start from in whatever it was going to turn out the explanation was.

"As I said it is a hypothesis, when the rest of the equipment arrives I will start to figure out more." Lauren vowed to her.

"I know you'll do everything you can." Bo assured her what she did believe wholeheartedly. "Did Hale ask you about moving her to the lab?"

"Several times during our conversation, but I stressed to him that until we know more it is best to keep her here. I also reminded him that if Kenzi woke up in a sterile bubble surrounded by Fae, she'd probably have a heart attack and that really won't help what we're trying to achieve." Lauren summed up the conversation she'd had with the light fae leader.

"I tried to explain to him that if you thought it was best I'd have arrived on his doorstep with you both already. He was freaked though." Bo remembered the Siren's reaction. "I think your Ash has a baby crush on my best friend, he even mentioned a helicopter would come if need be to pick up his little momma." She did her best Hale impression for the last few words.

"Let's hold him to that if it is necessary." Lauren breathed out, a little worried in the back of her mind that it might just come to that. "Right now I'm happier with her vitals than I have been all morning. She's sleeping peacefully." Lauren's eyes went over to a blue and white baby monitor like hand set that was stood up next to her laptop that was making soft breathing sounds. "That is her snoring." She smiled at Bo.

"I'm not going to ask why you had a baby monitor here." Bo gave her a soft grin as she listened to the soothing sound of Kenzi sleeping but it slowly faded as her mind reminded her of what else she had to tell the blonde. "I also wanted to keep you up to speed, while Hale was putting a fire under your technicians butts, he asked me to tell Dyson what was going on with her."

"He needs to know." Lauren summed up, obviously uncomfortable that it had been Bo who had done the informing but not disagreeing with the fundamental fact that the wolf needed to know. "I just wish Hale would stop pushing you in there with him." She spoke her discomfort with the Ash's choice openly wanting Bo to understand that she hadn't changed her opinion about the succubus being around Dyson from the night before.

"Hale is keeping him informed from now on." Bo made the other important point she'd even stressed to the Ash before she'd left the compound.

"Good." Lauren looked at Bo for a moment as she stood up, and as Bo stood up she moved closer to her. "You know what you should do?"

"Thank you for doing everything you are for Kenzi?" Bo let her settle closer, her body clearly relaxing with the closer proximity of her lover.

"No, because it's Kenzi." Lauren shook her head with a smile. "You should take your jacket off, let your hair down, and go up stairs and spend some time with your best friend. We both know you being the first thing she sees when she wakes up is the best medicine for her right now." The blonde raised her hand and cupped Bo's cheek. "I'm going to be rummaging around sorting supplies and then running tests for a while so a sleepy best friend is going to be better company than a busy doctor."

Bo gave a soft nod against Lauren's hand just looking at the blonde for a long moment. Even with everything having gone off kilter again, somehow just knowing she was going through this with Lauren made a part of her ragged spirit settled. The idea that anything could be really wrong with Kenzi, anything that could hurt or kill her, was something that Bo couldn't even begin to make sense of. Whatever this was, she was going to find a way to fix it, with Lauren's help and her love.

-x-

Upstairs, Bo had settled into the chair next to Kenzi's bed watching for a long time the restful way that her best friend was sleeping. Images of her seizure like movements from earlier kept trying to push into her head, but Bo did her best to keep reminding herself to stay positive. Lauren was doing everything medically that anyone on earth could do, with the full support of Hale who just happened to be the Ash. Trick was still compiling his list of most likely culprits, and as he had explained when she'd called him, reaching out to any contacts he could for information. She knew that even Dyson was probably sitting in his cell right now trying to rack his brain for anything he could think of that would help.

"Hey, how long have you been there?" Kenzi's voice was a little more subdued than normal as pale blue eyes opened and focused on her best friend who had zoned out as she tried to replay all the times since the Garuda that Kenzi had done anything out of the ordinary.

"Awhile, don't worry about it." Bo asked immediately leaning closer to the bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Crappy." Kenzi admitted, blinking a few more times. "Like you roofied my drink again." She smiled, her eyes dipping closed slightly as she licked her lips. "Anything to drink in this place?"

"Yes." Bo moved to the side table, where indeed there was a jug of ice water waited, and she filled a glass and helped Kenzi take a slow long sip of it.

"What's that damned beeping noise?" The younger woman asked when her head rested back on the pillow. "I don't remember there being beeping before."

"It's your heart monitor, more equipment arrived while you were asleep and Lauren has you hooked up like a robot." Bo assured her it was something 'normal'. "But don't worry about any of that, you just worry about resting and building up your strength."

"Wow the thing in the basement got me good eh?" Kenzi breathed out a little hard and shifted her legs under the blankets to stretch them out, wondering why they felt heavy and exhausted. "Is it at the taxidermy being made into a trophy?" She tried to find her usual wit.

"Kenzi..." Bo didn't answer the question directly as she shifted to sit on the edge of the bed. "Why didn't you tell me everything that happened at the Norn's?" She reached up and ran her hand over dark hair soothingly.

"The Norn? The Norn's in the basement?" Blue eyes flared wide with surprise.

"No." Bo shook her head.

"So Tricky the Trickster told you then huh?" Kenzi took a moment before she figured out what must have happened.

"Why didn't you?" Bo frowned softly as she asked the question in a soft voice.

"It wasn't important at the time, fighting the Garuda was the only thing that mattered." Kenzi admitted frowning back at her softly. "And then things just kept happening that were more important."

"Never think that Kenzi, never again." Bo shook her head at her best friend adamantly reaching to take Kenzi's hand. "You are important Kenzi, critically important..." She remembered the feeling of panic she had felt when she'd found her earlier. "And I want to know everything from now on."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you." Kenzi conceded squeezing the hand that held hers, her tired face showing how ashamed she was now for disappointing and worrying her best friend.

"All this time I've been afraid you've just been drinking too much and now I find out you were splashed with toxic Norn weirdness." Bo tired to stress why the secret had complicated things.

"Wait, you thought I was a borderline alcoholic and you were what... waiting for my liver to burst?" Kenzi stared at Bo with a soft smirk trying to lighten the situation.

"No, I thought you needed time to deal with the whole Garuda thing and Nate." Bo defended herself, purposely mentioning the name that she thought might be one of the big reason that Kenzi had been trying to 'celebrate' and forget. "Any time during those days you felt like ass you could have clued us into the Norn thing." She eyeballed her to underline the point. "So don't turn this around on me." She finally gave a soft smile. "I really don't care about that now Kenzi, I just want to know everything that happened so we can figure out how to make you better."

"But that's all there is; small jar of black goo, tiny splatter. I backed into a cabinet and it fell on the floor," Kenzi shook her head. "Creepy 'a gift has been given' Darth Vader like prophecy from the Norn, you know?" She added remembering the cackling laugh that had come from the Norn when it had occurred. "I've been waiting for my free magazine subscription or Norn logo T-shirt in the mail ever since, but so far nothing's come."

"I think it's come." Bo frowned again, knowing that the more Kenzi 'joked' about this the more it was bothering her. "Lauren says you need to rest, which means you're no getting out of bed, and you need to let her do any medical stuff she needs too. Understand?" She fixed her best friend with a serious stare.

"Who made her the boss?" Kenzi pouted instantly at the strict instructions.

"Eight years as a doctor made her the boss of all sick people, sorry but you have to accept it." Bo reminded her of Lauren's qualifications. "If we were dealing with a wallet stealing crisis then you would be the boss, but so far there is no need for lifted purses."

"Where is Mr. Kickers? I do not see Mr. Kickers, or Ziggy without either of those I cannot get better." Kenzi folded her arms across her chest. "Wait a minute." She said slowly. "What the hell am I wearing?" She lifted the comforter to see the bland blue outfit "And who the hell put me in this?" She narrowed her eyes at Bo.

"Lauren has seen many naked women Kenzi, relax she just got you changed." Bo had to chuckle at the young woman's list of immediate concerns. "How about I go home get you your fluffy minions and some acceptable sleepwear? But you have to promise to stay in bed and do what Lauren asks you to."

"Not if she makes weird demands." Kenzi shook her head. "My naughty origami skills are not for her amusement."

"Stay put." Bo had to laugh remembering how one drunken night Kenzi had showed her how she could fold paper into both the shape of a penis and a vagina, and make mating pigs origami. It was just so Kenzi, and the fact she was being so lucid and amusing made Bo feel a little better for the moment.

-x-

Bo turned to glance at the clock in the kitchen, it was nearly midnight and if she was honest the day couldn't be over soon enough. Though she had wished they'd have more answers by now. Lauren had been hard at work all day, most of her time filled with analyzing Kenzi's blood and working out a 'support' regime to help the young woman's body deal with whatever the Norn's gift had put inside her.

The blue and white baby monitor was leaned against the lamp on the end table against the side of the couch and from it came the even sound of Kenzi's sleepy breathing. The young woman been awake for a time when Bo had got back from her brief trip to the clubhouse. She'd picked all three of them clothes, and specifically gotten Kenzi's stuffed friends. Not to mention her I-pod, headphones and some graphic novels that Bo grabbed of Kenzi's bedside.

At her patients bedtime, Lauren had hooked up a secondary IV infusion to add a serum mixture to the saline hydration she'd been giving Kenzi since the equipment had arrived. Bo didn't understand the details of the serum treatment but Lauren had explained that it would hopefully help balance out the most important things in Kenzi's blood and help her body fight more while they continued to work on an answer. Bo had stayed with the younger woman until she had fallen asleep and then had come down to sit on the couch and watch as Lauren poured over seemingly endless pages of results and research.

Having sensed Bo's movement, Lauren looked up from her place and closed the book she was researching from and put it down on the desk top.

"How about a hot chocolate?" The blonde asked her voice soft.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that question?" Bo offered back leaning up off the couch to stretch her arms.

"But I just did, I could offer you a night cap instead." Lauren smiled more as she put a bookmark in her place and laid the book on the work surface.

"Night cap please." Bo smiled at her, watching Lauren head towards the kitchen. "And then I think we should both get some sleep."

"Well you could go turn the bed down and I'll bring these up, you know where it is." She pointed out as she reached up to get two crystal tumblers. "Don't forget the baby monitor."

Bo picked up the monitor and left Lauren to her work, as she went upstairs. A quick look in through the ajar door showed her that the brunette was on her side asleep, Mr. Kickers and Ziggy within hands reach.

For a moment Bo was struck with a sense of panic and foreboding, unable to understand what she would do if she 'lost' Kenzi. The idea made her completely numb and stagnant for a long moment before she finally shook it off and moved to the second bedroom. She knew she needed to stay positive and believe they were going to find a cure for her best friend, they just had too. Whispering a quite 'good night' she finally continued down the hall to the other bedroom.

Taking her time, she put the monitor on the side table and then folded down the carefully made bed, casting the extra ornate pillows off onto a chair in the corner. Without much thought she peeled herself out of her leathers and slipped into the soft white cotton sheets and waited for the blonde to arrive.

Lauren appeared a few minutes later carrying two glasses, filled less then half way with a honey coloured liquid. She dropped one knee on the bed as she leaned forward holding one out to Bo.

"Careful it's hot." She warned.

"Hot?" Bo raised an eyebrow as she took the heavy tumbler indeed to find the glass was hot. "Smells delicious." She admitted when the smell of it hit her nose, the high temperature of the liquid making it send swirls of nearly invisible steam upwards to carry the scent.

"It's a secret recipe." The blonde smiled more as she eased back off the bed, put her own glass on the bedside table 'her' side of the bed and flicked on the small lamp there. Moving back to the door, she hit the switch to turn off the bright over head lighting. As she made her return to the bed, she pulled the scrubs top off over her head, revealing the fact she was naked beneath it, before pushing down the matching pants. "It is one part fae ingredients and one part human ingredients." She revealed the secret to her recipe. "A little herbal, a little alcoholic." She added sliding in the bed beside Bo, picking her drink up again as she moved closer until her hip touched the succubus'.

"A little fae, a little human... I like that combination." Bo admitted taking her first careful sip, of course she fell in love with the rich distinctly sharp taste that ended in a mellow aftertaste. "I won't even ask what is in it as long as you promise to make it for me again."

"I promise." Lauren beamed as she sipped her own and made a small pleased sound as the liquid hit the back of her throat. Bo put her arm around Lauren's back where they laid back against the pillows. "I never drink this when I'm alone."

"Too alcoholic?" Bo teased a little.

"Something like that." Lauren nodded taking another sip before she snuggled closer to her lover.

"Are you tired?" Bo checked as they both continued to enjoy the night cap.

"Drink your drink." Lauren replied with a soft smirk.

"It was just an innocent question this time." Bo blushed remembering the last time she'd asked that very question.

"It's been a really hard day for you Bo." Lauren moved her glass into the hand closest to Bo and moved her other hand to slide across Bo's stomach as she turned towards her.

"I think that could be said for both of us. You ran a million blood samples it seemed." Bo immediately felt her muscles flutter under the touch, taking another sip of her drink to finish it off and put it on the side table.

"True." Lauren drew her hand back using her incredibly short nails to just skim Bo's skin, before drawing circles over the flat muscles with her fingers. "How was the nightcap?" She asked finishing her own in a similar manner.

"Delicious." Bo admitted taking the empty glass from Lauren and putting it beside her own. "I'm sure if I did know what was it in it would ruin it. Never give one to Kenzi." She laughed lightly.

"Trust me I would never share this with Kenzi." Lauren shook her head with a soft smile, the circles she drew on Bo's stomach turning to large figure eights that stretched from hip to hip across the expanse of skin there.

For awhile Bo just laid there, closing her eyes as her body relaxed more and more becoming only aware of the fingertips that traced over her skin. Deep inside all of her emotions were still swirling and her worry was still intense, but for now she could push it to the side and actually think about getting some rest.

"That feels nice." She finally said in a soft voice.

"It's supposed to." Lauren said her voice dropping to match Bo's in its softness as she leaned her head down and placed a kiss on Bo's bare shoulder.

The touch made Bo smile lazily, her body seeming to stretch out into the contact between them. She began to run her fingers up and down Lauren's back slowly, just letting the blonde touch her.

"I want you to lay back, close your eyes and relax." Lauren whispered as she shifted slowly and deliberately, hooking her leg over Bo's as the blonde began kissing her collarbone and using her hand to lightly stroke from Bo's lower stomach to below her breasts.

The brunette couldn't help but just lie back and do as she was asked, and as Lauren began to touch her it made her realize again just how much she loved the blonde. More importantly as Lauren's mouth finally reached hers for a slow kiss, Bo realized with clarity that the blonde loved her back.

-x-


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimers: All original property is owned by Showcase, and we do not infer that any characters, creations or the concept of 'Lost Girl' are our property and the following fan fiction has been written purely for entertainment purposes only.

Pairings: Bo/Lauren Set directly after our story "Faeral", the third story in an AU plot line.

Rating: M (Contains scenes of violence, sexuality and nudity)

**Faery Tale: Chapter Thirteen**

By: The Rainbowwriters

The next morning came with a flurry of new activity and with everyone in the house having managed a few hours of sleep, Bo and Lauren had awoken with a renewed sense of focus. Of course what Bo probably hadn't realized was that the doctor had slipped out periodically, her trained body and mind waking up almost on clockwork intervals, to check on her sleeping patient and all her monitors.

The doctor's first official check of the morning on Kenzi had found her easy to rouse, and an update of her vitals found they were all back to being within normal parameters. The only real difference, was that with a few hours sleep Kenzi was now back to being more and more like her usual self. Some of her first requests being for breakfast, as although she said she felt fine, her intense hunger had returned with a vengeance.

The doctor knew she felt far better prepared to start to unravel the mystery of what was happening to Kenzi, and the continuation of her uncharacteristic hunger had reminded Lauren there was a lot of work to do. All of her effort the day before to create a serum to help Kenzi's body cope with what was happening to it had been worth it now that she was showing signs of improvement, but Lauren knew the bigger and more difficult mystery was finding out what was going on to fix it permanently.

"I'm not sure where she puts it." Bo came down the stairs carrying a tray laden with empty dishes. "She wants to know if there is more fruit, apparently she liked the fruit." She had to give a chuckle as she moved towards the kitchen past Lauren's work station.

"Well that's good, fruit is good for her." Lauren looked up with a smile from where she was already working. "But I think it would be best if you 'forgot' to fulfil her request, just for now, too much of anything wouldn't be good for her." The blonde pointed out as she moved from her desk to cross to the kitchen meeting Bo there. "How is she?" She asked as she moved to get herself a coffee wanting to know Bo's appraisal.

"Perfect compared to yesterday." Bo admitted honestly knowing it was the truth. "She wants to know when she can get out of bed and off all your machines."

"Well that's encouraging." Lauren smiled as she leaned against the counter. "We'll see about moving her back downstairs later for a change in scenery." She added tasting her coffee, deciding it needed more milk.

"So what is the plan for today? What do you need me to do?" Bo finished loading the last of Kenzi's dishes into the dishwasher.

"Well I think you should check in with Trick, you know how much he prefers face to face then over the phone. Maybe some of his contacts have come up with something overnight." Lauren cupped her mug with both hands as she leaned comfortably watching Bo, "And I think it would be a good idea to check the clubhouse again, just for any obvious signs of underfae activity, new kills, that kind of thing." She offered a few options.

"Sounds exactly like the list I had come up with." Bo nodded walking to come to stand beside her lover. "And you'll call if you need anything right?"

"Of course." Lauren nodded and the blonde let herself smile somewhat selfishly. "You look beautiful this morning." She complimented Bo softly.

"Really?" Bo stopped and seemed to do what only she could, almost posing without knowing it as she smiled brightly. "I think you had a lot to do with that."

"I think some good sleep had a lot to do with it." Lauren countered shaking her head as she just looked at Bo. "But where do you buy your bras?" She shook her head. "Because they are criminal."

"Succubus secret." Bo was broadly grinning by now, amazed as always how Lauren had this way of making an un-Lauren comment that made her feel as if she was suddenly the most beautiful woman on earth.

"As a doctor I'm making it my personal goal to discover that secret." Lauren stepped forward a step and pressed her lips against Bo's briefly. "For the good of science."

-x-

Lauren had not been the only one who had met the morning with a new sense of purpose and focus. In his quarters Dyson had focused hard to shrug off the effects of the medications as quickly as he could and had got out of bed and dressed quickly, tossing his heavy sling aside so that he looked as 'normal' as possible. He then sent a politely worded request for a meeting with the Ash and waited.

Of course patience wasn't something Dyson had been graced with and so when it took more than five minutes to hear anything back from his request he was up off the chair he had perched on and was pacing around the room, sticking to a mainly back and forth route in front of the window. Taking the opportunity to stretch and flex his stiff and sore arm, shaking it thoroughly between movements to try and work out the kinks he could feel in it.

After what seemed to the wolf an eternity, but was in reality no more than ten minutes, the door to his quarters slid open, making him turn with full attention to the noise and motion. Clearly expecting it to be a messenger, giving him a time to expect a visit from the Ash at best, Dyson was most surprised to see the Siren standing in the doorway. Giving a little nod to his flanking body guards to remain outside, Hale stepped further into the room and eased the door closed.

"I can guess why I'm here." Hale began the conversation as he moved to stand behind the comfortable chair near the television set up. He looked at Dyson with a light frown.

"I need to be out there." Dyson took a deep breath and looked directly. "I can't help them in here and I need to help."

"I know, and a big part of me wants you out there too partner but there's a but..." Hale stopped and looked at him with a frown. "And we both know it." He breathed out hard and watched as Dyson turned away a little and looked out of the window.

"Bo." The wolf summed up wanting Hale to know he wasn't foolish enough to have not thought about this.

"Exactly." The siren nodded. "I'm not sure how much help she wants from you right now, and I mean in the out there wild and free kind of way. In here you're a traceable, confined entity that she doesn't have to worry about, out there..."

"I understand what you're saying Hale I really do. How about I promise to keep my contact with her limited, take all my leads from Trick." Dyson outlined that he had thought about all this. "I swear to avoid the club house and the Doc's apartment. Hale I need to do something to help Kenzi, I can't be here doing nothing. Just give me a day pass, I'll come back at seven thirty or whenever you say." The wolf offered any solution he could come up with.

"Have I mentioned lately how much I hate being in charge?" Hale put his hands in his pockets looking so much like 'regular' Hale even in the expensive suit he was wearing. "You promise you're okay? You're not going to make a beeline for the Doc or anything?"

"Helping Kenzi is why I want out of here." Dyson stressed. "Unfortunately, especially as Lauren is the one caring for Kenzi, I can't promise our paths won't cross, but I can assure you she is not my focus in this. I can even promise I won't make a bee line to see Kenzi if you want me too, helping her is more important to me than seeing her."

"Urgh." Hale groaned and turned away, rubbing at his forehead. "I understand what you're saying and I know you want to help, we all do." The siren crossed back to the door and knocked on it, finally looking up and across at his best friend. "But I need to think about this Dyson, I need some time. I send you out there, you carry with you the message that I think you're fit and safe, I need to be sure, you understand that right brother?"

The wolf tensed his shoulders as he reached out and grabbed the window frame, biting back any angry, frustrated retort.

"I do." He managed to reply controlling his initial disappointment that he hadn't just been released.

"I'll be back." Hale gave a nod and slipped out.

As soon as the siren left the Dyson slapped his hand on the marble window side with a sharp curse and moved back to the small set of weights that had been set up in his room and launched into a hard routine. He was going to be ready the minute he was finally let out to do something, anything. After all, he wasn't sure on top of everything that he could live with knowing that Kenzi had been hurt or worse because of him.

-x-

When Trick looked up from his morning bar maintenance and cleaning, he frowned slightly to see Bo walking in. It wasn't that the older man hadn't been expecting her to appear sometime, but what he hadn't expected was how she looked. With everything that was happening Trick had imagined Bo to drawn and tired, but instead she looked, well, almost radiant. Her hair was glossy and intricately half tied back off her face with a number of tiny tight braids. Her posture just oozed confidence, balance and calm.

"Bo." He moved the empty tray from the glasses he had just unpacked, down off the bar onto the floor so it wouldn't obstruct their interaction.

"Hi." Bo moved over with the same enthusiasm and sat down at on a bar stool. "Just checking in that there isn't anything new you've come up with." She saw him looking at her and smiled. "What?" She asked putting her hand up to check there was nothing in her hair or something on her face.

"Nothing its just that..." Trick shook his head. "Considering the situation I hadn't expected you to look so..." He stopped. "Good." He summed up somewhat unsuccessfully.

"I managed to get some sleep last night, everything went well with Kenzi. She's more alert and like herself, she's even been eating and complaining about having to be in bed." Bo tried to relay the 'good side' of things. "I'm staying positive and ready to deal with any underfae we need to."

"Well that's good to hear." Trick gave a genuine smile. "I have been doing some reading since I spoke to Lauren, I have a few things to show you, to talk to you about, if you want to come out back." He encouraged her. "If you have some time that is, I don't want to keep you from doing more important things."

Bo shook her head and stood up, following him around the bar and downstairs into his private quarters. She could tell by the myriad of books on his desk and nearby that he had probably spend a good deal of the night looking for anything that could help in their situation.

"Have you been back to the clubhouse yet?" He asked as he moved towards the large desk.

"Yes, that was my first stop this morning. There isn't anything out of place, no more corpses and no underfae sleeping on my couch." Bo summed up what she'd found, or more what she hadn't found.

"Which I did expect if I'm honest. Without you or Kenzi there, there was little to draw it or them out." The Blood King nodded as he picked up a book and handed it to Bo before moving off towards the vault. "I've marked a few pages with information on possible candidates." He spoke as he moved off out of sight. "And I've been think about how best to determine what we are dealing with."

"What have you come up with?" Bo began to look through the book, frowning at one of the marked examples which showed a small almost wolverine like creature that had a list of horrible attributes next to its hand drawn picture.

Trick came out of the vault with what looked like, well to be honest was, a raccoon trap.

"Be very quiet, we're hunting rabbits?" Bo couldn't help but make the joke as she looked up to see what he was carrying.

"I know it looks a little basic." Trick began as he put it down on the floor.

"No, no I'm sure you're going to list off its mystical properties any time now." Bo shook her head.

"Hardly I picked it up from the hardware store last night." The Blood King shook his head and the practicality of the situation made Bo laugh out loud. "Underfae aren't always the most intelligent of creatures."

"You know Kenzi would so appreciate that." Bo admitted. "So I set it up with some bait in the basement and see what we catch?"

"Basically that would be the plan, unfortunately it requires some input from you." Trick pointed out his larger plan. "If this creature is indeed attracted to Kenzi, activity in the clubhouse may encourage it to come out from where it might be hiding. It would be best if you set it and spend a few hours at home."

"I guess if that's what it's going to take." Bo agreed bending down to pick up the surprisingly heavy duty trap. "And I have reading material." She still had the book in her other hand.

"Actually you might want to put it off for a little while, as you'll see from your reading material most of these creatures are nocturnal, becoming active at dusk at the earliest." Trick saved her finding this out later.

"Anything else you can suggest sooner than that?" Bo nodded that she understood the instructions on what she should do.

"Well there are a number of questions about Kenzi and her behaviour I was going to ask you if you have some time." Trick paused before sitting down watching whether or not Bo was going to retake her seat and get comfortable again, or if she had other things that were pressing on her agenda. He also knew it was likely she would just want to be getting back to Kenzi and Lauren.

"Like?" Bo put down the cage and placed the book safely on top, taking a nearby chair as she waited for him to begin.

-x-

Lauren had had an interrupted morning, just when the blonde got settled into one task or another, be it looking at the newest round of tests, or reading through another old fae book, Kenzi's bored voice came through the baby monitor. Usually asking for a drink, or to inform her that one of her machines was making a funny noise. The interruptions hadn't really bothered the blonde, especially as it proved to her that Kenzi was at least far more animated than she had been the day before and she had kept down the breakfast she had enjoyed, but they were proving to make research difficult.

"Doctor?" Kenzi's voice crackled again through the small receiver, making Lauren roll her eyes but smile as she put the latest book she was flicking through down on the desk and slipped out from behind it to walk up stairs. Pausing in the doorway to lean against the frame for a moment, just looking at the bed where the younger woman was laid, and Lauren smiled a little brighter.

Kenzi smiled brightly back at her and held Mr. Kickers in both of her hands in front of her, using one of her hands to bend is paw over in a wave.

"It was Mr. Kickers who wanted you." She put the blame on the small stuffy, which caused Lauren to keep her smile as she pushed off from the door frame and walked into the room, moving to perch on the edge of the bed.

"And what is wrong with our little stuffed friend?" Lauren asked playing along.

"He's bored." Kenzi revealed the fact 'hopping' Mr. Kickers across the blankets a little towards the blonde. "He wants to come down stairs and watch what you're doing." She hopped him back and leaned back against the pillows with a slightly tired and uneven smile.

"Kenzi." Lauren sighed softly. "You're sick." She frowned a little as she looked up, assessing how the fluid regime was going. "I'm not keeping you up here as some kind of punishment."

"I know but really, it is no fun being up here with you down there." Kenzi pouted, picking fluff of Mr. Kickers' ear.

"I suppose we could move you to the couch, slowly, and you don't get to come of the IV. You get to leave the monitors behind though but have me eagle eyeing you all the time. Or I could unhook you from the IV and leave you up here, hooked up to the monitors but free to wander around the bedroom a little." Lauren offered some choices. "Really Kenzi I'm sorry if there doesn't seem much wiggle room here, but it's because there isn't any."

"You know you drive a hard bargain Doc." Kenzi measure out her options focusing on the fact that her main point had been that she was lonely. "I'll take on the couch with the IV." She finally decided feeling like the all white walls of the bedroom were closing in on her.

Lauren looked at Kenzi and smiled shaking her head slightly as she pushed up off the bed and moved to disconnect monitors and remove sensors.

"You know Kenzi you really are fascinating." She went on as she worked. "Most people would easily have chosen to stay in the comfort of a posture-pedic mattress, uninterrupted natural sun light and no pokey IV and the comfort of knowing that any dip or drop in their normal levels would be caught instantly by high tech machines designed for the singular purpose of keeping you safe. But not you, you chose lumpy couch and old fashioned human interaction."

"No, I choose anything other than the white walls of the insane asylum closing in around me until I'm left feeling a little like a good Chianti and some fava beans." Kenzi did her best Hannibal Lector.

"Excuse me?" Lauren paused as she pushed back all the monitors to clear the bed totally. "Did you just liken my bedroom decor to an institution?"

"There is nothing wrong with colour you know." Kenzi kicked her feet under the white comforter. "Even if it's just as an accent, and no I don't call cream or ivory an accent on white."

"It's called subtle." Lauren laughed as she moved to look at Kenzi's IV line. "Why am I not surprised you don't get subtle?" She frowned a little at the large area of bruising around the IV insertion point. "You know despite myself, you can come off the IV for now, I want to give your vein a rest." The blonde reached into her pants pocket for a wipe and a band aid to dress the small IV wound as she began to ease off the tape around the insertion needle. "Stay still." She encouraged as she carefully removed the leader.

"Yeah!" Kenzi celebrated the freedom the instant Lauren pressed the small adhesive bandage onto her arm and let the tube dangle free. "We're free, Mr. Kickers, we're free." She wiggled the soft toy with her other hand. "It's nearly time for The Talk, watching it with you is going to be awesome Doc."

-x-


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimers: All original property is owned by Showcase, and we do not infer that any characters, creations or the concept of 'Lost Girl' are our property and the following fan fiction has been written purely for entertainment purposes only.

Pairings: Bo/Lauren Set directly after our story "Faeral", the third story in an AU plot line.

Rating: M (Contains scenes of violence, sexuality and nudity)

**Faery Tale: Chapter Fourteen**

By: The Rainbowwriters

Trick's 'few questions' had turned into quite a lot of questions, and once Bo had done her best to answer all of them, the two of them had looked over some of the candidates that he had earmarked. Discussions had lasted long enough to bring them into the lunch hour, and as the barkeep had moved upstairs to help his staff with the lunch rush, Bo joined him.

The older fae had offered Bo a 'free' lunch, which she had pointed out wasn't a rare event, but she'd accepted none the less. Soon Bo was tucked into a large chicken club sandwich with a side of fries and a bottle of beer, while Trick also enjoyed a meat pastry of some kind as the usual servers kept the bar under control.

Suddenly Trick's hand stopped with his fork half way to his mouth, his dark eyes turned to the Dal doorway. Everything about his features froze, locked in an obvious attempt to control his reaction to whatever it was he had just seen.

"Trick, what's wrong?" Bo saw him freeze and then followed his eye line, turning on her stool to see exactly what he had seen and she instantly tensed.

Walking towards them very slowly, Dyson let his eyes drop to watch the floor as he finished his approach. Instantly Bo felt her whole body tingle with confusion and panic, after all the last time the two of them had been in the Dal, she'd had to almost crack his head open like a melon on the floor in order to prove a point.

"What are you doing here?" She hissed at him standing up when he reached only a few feet away from the bar.

"Bo." Dyson turned to look at her, keeping his voice soft, in order to show his purposed calmness. "I didn't expect you to be here, I'm sorry." He apologized immediately and looked down again. "I wouldn't have come here if I known you would be here." He stressed glancing at Trick also in apology. Just from the way the wolf was carrying himself it was obvious that he was still in some amount of pain, and with the just minimal stitching remaining on his face he looked far less like he was broken. "I'm here to help." He explained his presence.

"Help?" Bo scoffed at the word for a moment, not taking her eyes off of him. "Did the Ash let you out or did you escape again?" She tested him, not able to hide the anger in her voice.

"I have Hale's permission to be out of my room, to be here at the Dal to speak with Trick." Dyson looked briefly at the succubus and then at the floor. "I'm not going anywhere near the club house or Lauren's apartment without your instruction to do so." He outlined the strict provisions Hale had put on his release. "And I am to return to the compound immediately if either of you feel that I need too." He shifted slightly in his place before his eyes came up to meet Bo's again. "Hale was calling Lauren's to warn you both, I'm surprised she hasn't called you by now." He admitted the fact that he had thought would have kept this awkward meeting from occurring.

"She's busy doing work-ups on Kenzi to try and figure out how to fix her." Bo underlined that the blonde was busy enough that news of Dyson wouldn't register that high, not wanting to give him the satisfaction. "So what, I'm just supposed to forget everything and tell you to get in the car because I need your nose at the clubhouse to track this thing? I've needed your nose since yesterday but it's attached to you, and you..." She made a slight huff. "Have barely finished unpacking from your trip to crazy land."

"Bo." It was Trick that spoke the succubus' name with a slight edge of disappointment and when she turned to look at him, the older fae was frowning at her.

"I know, I know, Kenzi is in danger, I have to get over myself." Bo filled in the words she could already imagine him saying. "I need to get with the fae way of doing things, which means get over it but..." She couldn't even begin to admit how she was feeling, how much she felt as if merely by talking too him right now she was betraying Lauren's trust.

Bo may have been about to say something when the phone in her jacket pocket began ringing. She put up her hand at both of them, taking the call but walking a distance a way to let Dyson approach Trick at the bar to talk to the older man directly.

"Lauren." Bo answered seeing her name on the display. "Let me guess, Hale called you?" She tapped her boot against the floor to relieve her anxious energy.

"Yes." The blonde sounded agitated, in fact possibly close to tears on the other end of the phone.

"I'm sorry, I had nothing to do with this and I didn't even know..." Bo began to try to explain but was cut off.

"So you know?" Lauren's voice sounded confused.

"Only because a half minute ago Dyson just walked into the Dal." Bo summed up the reality of what was going on. "I was enjoying a sandwich and then suddenly, there he is." The growl could be heard in her voice as she turned to look at him.

"I had an idea he would head to the Dal, I just hoped you were at the clubhouse." Lauren was honest.

"Trick and I were discussing underfae suspects, and he bought a trap for me to set at the house. I was going to phone and tell you the plan once I had my lunch. I hoped that since you hadn't called nothing had gone wrong with Kenz." Bo admitted the entire extent of the plan she'd had before Dyson walked in and derailed everything. "Trick is hopeful that if I spend some time at the house with the trap set, it might have better luck drawing whatever this thing is out."

"With Dyson?" Panic flooded Lauren's voice as the question slipped out of her lips before she could stop herself.

"No!" Bo shot back immediately. "Dyson didn't have anything to do with it. Dyson only showed up a second ago. I haven't even got past the shock of him being out yet let alone made a plan that included him."

"No, of course, sorry." The blonde retracted, clearly trying to order her feelings on the other side of the phone.

"Lauren..." Bo's voice softened. "I know we haven't talked about it but I do know how scary the idea of Dyson out of lock down must be for you. I know that what he put you through can't just be swept away because he wasn't in control, and please know that I don't expect you to forgive him, ever." She took a soft breath. "The last thing I want you to think is that I'm making secret plans with Dyson."

"I'm sorry." Lauren apologized again for the assumptions she had almost made. "I was just..." She hesitated. "Surprised when the Ash phoned to tell me he was free and when I realized Hale hadn't discussed it with you, I wanted to warn you in advance if I could."

"I was surprised when he walked in too." Bo acknowledged, touched by the fact that Lauren had been still trying to protect her. "I don't know what Hale was thinking."

"Bo..." Lauren began to say something and then seemed to rethink what she was saying. "Hale was thinking that he could help Kenzi." She said simply, though her voice showed how fragile her emotions were. "Dyson has skills that can help us track and catch this underfae quicker, the Ash just wants the quickest and best results."

"The issue isn't about whether Dyson can help or not, it is about whether he should be trusted out of confinement." Bo tried to keep a hold of her anger, knowing it was directed at Hale's choices not her lover.

"But I have to think about the best for my patient." Lauren replied her voice more even. "Dyson's nose will be able to trace anything in the club house that isn't familiar. We need to get any of the pieces to this puzzle that we can."

Where she was standing, Bo sidestepped and braced her hand against a pillar, her mind and heart warring with each other non-stop over the dilemma that had walked in with the wolf.

"Are you sure this is how you want to focus on this? Because we can find answers on our own Lauren." Bo tried to stress that fundamentally she could easily plod on without the wolf's assistance.

"We could... but it would be slower and less effective." Lauren replied not able to fight logic, despite her emotional reluctance. "Even if he can't find it, he will be able to give us a clearer idea of where it is and what broad spectrum of creature we're dealing with. Answers mean progress Bo and progress means helping Kenzi."

"I just want you to be clear, the only reason his help is being accepted then is to help Kenzi. Not because he's not still on my hit list." Bo tried to make the way she felt clear, wanting Lauren to know she was choosing the blonde's side in all of this. "And when we're done the recon, I'm sending him back to the compound."

"I know this is complicated for everyone." Lauren confirmed that nothing about any of this was optimal, and then fell silent for a long moment. "In an effort to make you smile." The blonde's voice returned to the phone, this time softer and more 'Lauren'.

"Make me smile?" Bo's anger managed to be easily derailed in the face of the blonde's tenderness.

"Kenzi has stabilized enough to be out on the veranda, getting a little fresh air and shade." Lauren filled in knowing it would make her lover relax a little. "I finally managed to convince her that mid-day television is not helping me focusing on my research."

"That does make me smile." Bo made the soft comment indeed feeling the expression of relief pull at the corners of her mouth. "Just remember, I'm worried about both you and Kenzi."

"Well missy, if you're worried about me then next time you bring me home a very dead, mangled raccoon in a sports bag, do you want to remember to tell me you did, so I can put it in the refrigerator and not have to follow my nose to find it in the hall closet?" She chuckled softly.

On the other end of the phone Bo had to laugh at her own 'stupidity'. When Trick had revealed to her about Kenzi's encounter with the Norn and she'd rushed home, Bo had at first forgot the sports bag in her car. It was only when she'd gone back out to get Mr. Kickers that she'd remembered it and brought it up into the apartment. Of course, again she'd been distracted and the offending item had ended up in the closet.

"Sorry." Bo apologized as she thought of how disgusting Lauren's job was sometimes. "There really isn't much left of him."

"Believe me the fact that it is minus entrails is a very good thing." Lauren commended the succubus on that small point. "It's chilling out as we speak, to minimize the smell a bit before I try to work on it." She confirmed her plan of attack on the decomposing corpse. "Kenzi made a joke about a Davey Crocket hat that isn't worth sharing."

Bo laughed again, thankful that her best friend was feeling well enough to be wise cracking and made her goodbyes to her lover. Finally she turned to find Trick and Dyson huddled at the bar, clearly discussing quietly what to do about 'her'. Confidently, Bo walked back to where they were, thankful that the blonde was so 'mature' about what needed to be done right now to help Kenzi. She still wasn't sure she was capable of the same benchmark.

"You're lucky Lauren is the woman she is." Bo bent down and picked up the trap that had been near her bar stool. "We're going to the clubhouse, I know it's early to set this thing but you can see what you can smell while things are still sorta fresh." She had looked first at Trick and then at Dyson as she spoke.

Neither man questioned her as Dyson just nodded his consent and waited for Bo to lead. Trick smiled a little tightly, almost as if this was the response he had been expecting from Lauren but that the response of his granddaughter had been the unknown factor.

-x-

The veranda of Lauren's apartment wasn't overly large, but it was large enough for an overhanging umbrella and a pair of patio recliner. Kenzi was perched on one, playing on Lauren's tablet in the shade, a plump pillow behind her head as she relaxed.

"Kenzi, you're going to want to stay out here for a little while, I'm going to be looking at our little friend and he smells pretty horrific as we discovered, is there anything I can get you before I go into full doctor mode?" Lauren asked as she stepped out and stood leaning lightly against the trellis work near the recliner that Kenzi was laid out on.

"Nope, I don't think so." Kenzi turned and looked at Lauren shaking her head, taking a moment to look her up and down chuckling as the blonde was now in over sized white scrubs that looked more like a the fae version of a decontamination suit. "Love the outfit, do you think it had rabies?"

"No." Lauren laughed softly. "But I don't have a lab coat here or any of my usual things and I didn't think to include them on the list I sent with Bo to the compound yesterday. In an effort to not smell like my specimen at the end..." She looked down at her strange outfit.

"You may be a doctor but sometimes your brain fails you." Kenzi pointed out with a grin. "I mean you didn't put lab coat on the list?"

"Thank you." Lauren stepped back towards the house to face off with her chilled specimen and its intense smell.

-x-

The atmosphere in the Camaro was tense to say the least. Silence had reigned since Bo and the wolf had entered it and began their journey back to the clubhouse. The brunette hadn't even tried to put the radio on to offer some sort of distraction, right now, even if she didn't realize it, she wanted Dyson to feel uncomfortable. After all, that was just the start of the feelings he'd made them experience.

"I'm sorry, I know how awkward this must feel." Dyson kept his eyes on the road.

"Actually I think that is part of the problem, you don't have a clue how awkward this is." Bo breathed out, she had both hands on the wheel which was unusual for her. "The things you did Dyson, the things you said to me..." She gave a soft shiver. "Awkward is just a start."

"That wasn't me." The wolf shook his head. "The wolf that did and said those things to you was not a wolf that I could ever be." He breathed out slowly, his voice soft and low. "It was a creature of anger made by the Garuda, brought to life by something mystical, no one could have foreseen." He summed up. "I would never hurt you like that Bo." He stated gently.

"But when we boil it all down that's my biggest problem Dyson, you would never hurt me like that because I'm a fae, I'm more important... but would you ever do it to Lauren? Because I know that deep down what that wolf was feeding from was your own feelings and insecurities. You think you're better than Lauren because you're fae and she's human, you don't think she's worthy to be with me regardless of what I want. Not everything you said and did while you were checked out was crazy, some of it was just you without the sense to keep your thoughts to yourself."

"What do you want me to say Bo?" Dyson glanced sideways at her. "Do you want me to lie to you? Or better yet tell you gruesome tales of my wild years when I ate humans and ravaged the lands?" He shook his head at her. "I am nine hundred years old Bo. Can I say to you that humans mean to me what they mean to you? No, no I can't."

"For starters I want you to get off your high horse and stop acting like 900 years makes you some sort of guru of how the world should work now." Bo glanced at him truly not having a lot to come back with against his blunt statement, which to be honest she already knew. "Now is now, it's not then, and no matter what the world was like then, it's not like it now. Now... in my world... humans mean something, in my world you treat them with respect they deserve. It's because of a human you got what you lost back from the Norn and because of a human that you're not peeing on a tree in the great forest." She glanced at him again with a sneer. "Remember when you came back from the Norn and told me how it had to be, no more us, no more feelings, you'd made a choice and we both had to move on. Well I'm giving you the same choice right now, if you want to live in my world then you need to start recognizing that humans aren't just food or an enemy to stay hidden from. They are creatures just like fae that deserve life, happiness and respect. Some of them even deserve to be treated as equals, no they don't have super powers but Kenzi didn't need superpowers to prove she loved you did she?"

"Kenzi is why I am here." Dyson pointed out his voice even.

"You say that but do you even want to admit to yourself what that means? You value a human Dyson? A human? You fought with Hale to get out of lock down, even though you're in pain..." She threw her hand in his direction pointing out what he was obviously trying to hide. "Even though it means having to face all this with me, because you care for Kenzi, because you value her and watching her die because she pissed off the Norn is not something you want to live the next 900 years with. Maybe you've never had that kind of relationship with a human but you have one now, recognize it for what it is, you're not her benevolent overlord, you're her friend."

Dyson looked back out of the windshield, breathing a little heavier.

"I am doing this because she cannot help herself." He outlined trying to clarify his position. "Whether you like it or not that makes me superior. I didn't make it that way, it just is." He locked his jaw slightly. "I am doing this because I care for Kenzi, care what happens to her, and because I am responsible for what has already happened." The muscle in his jaw line twitched slightly.

"I know you care for Kenzi." Bo tried to breathe through some of her emotions. "But you need to admit to yourself that you're not doing this because you feel 'responsible' for her, you're doing it because you couldn't sit in that little box at the compound reading magazines while your friend was in jeopardy. The same thing she felt when she took her inferior self to the Norn and faced off with her, you were in pain and she needed to stop it because she couldn't bare to see you suffer." As she pulled the car in to park next to the clubhouse, she turned it off and turned to look at him fully. "You don't remember this but even at your most crazy, even after she shot you in the leg with a crossbow bolt, do you know what you said about Kenzi?" She let him make the obvious shake of his head that he didn't. "You called her a pup, you said pups don't know the right thing to do sometimes so you didn't blame her for shooting you. Crazy you, insane homicidal you, laughed it off because it was Kenzi."

Dyson said nothing, letting her stare at the side of his face for a long time before she huffed and got out of the car. For not the first time he wished he remembered what he had said and done in order to have a better idea of what to expect from Bo in particular. The idea that even in his elevated aggressive state he hadn't viewed Kenzi as an enemy, despite her attacking him, was something he was going to have to figure out.

-x-

With a hard frown Lauren pulled the angled magnified glass back and then scanned over the area of the raccoon corpse she was focused on. She shook her head as she poked more at the spot with the tweezers she had in her hand. Separating the layers of tissue carefully, she examined the tearing of the muscle and flesh first with the magnifier in place, and then pushing it up with the back of her hand, without it there.

The examination of the long dead animal wasn't going as Lauren as expected at all and had so far brought up more questions than answers. Laying down the fine tweezers on the small tray of equipment by the side of the table Lauren looked up and turned to walk to get her clipboard and a tray of slides when she walked straight into Kenzi.

"Hey Doc." The younger woman said brightly causing Lauren to step back literally and look up, her attention having been miles away on the job at hand. "That looks ooey-gooey messy fun." There was a slightly odd uneven smile on Kenzi's face as erratic blue eyes flicked from looking at the dead raccoon, to Lauren's slightly bloody gloved hands and back again quickly.

"Kenzi, I thought I warned you about coming inside." Lauren lifted the thin mask she was wearing over her nose and mouth down as she frowned harder at the younger woman.

"I know but I got hungry." Kenzi shrugged drawing her tongue over her lips briefly.

"I can't really get you anything right now." Lauren looked briefly at her own messy hands and then off towards the kitchen.

"Can you really eat road kill?" The brunette wandered towards the table with the pinned out raccoon on it, leaning to stare down at it.

"Kenzi that's not road kill, and please..." She grabbed a mask from behind her on the side reaching out to put it close to the younger woman's face. "Don't touch it, and put this on." She encouraged her. "You're sick enough." She tried a soft smile. "I bet you were fun in science class." She shook her head at Kenzi still smiling, though something about the other woman's demeanour was unsettling the blonde just a little.

"Oh come on there looks to be lots left on that." Kenzi gave a shrug as she picked up one of Lauren's instruments and poked at the corpse.

"Kenzi please, put that down." The blonde was happy when the younger woman put the slim flexible mirror back on the tray. "I'll make you a sandwich." She pulled off her gloves and deposited them on the table near the tray of instruments heading off towards the kitchen. "Just... just go back out on the veranda." She urged as she did.

"Cool beans." Kenzi watched her go with an odd smile, reaching out to pick up the bloody gloves as soon as the doctors back was turned and hiding them behind her back headed outside.

-x-

Bo walked behind Dyson down into the basement, giving him a wide berth when they emerged into the main room. He sniffed at the almost stale air around then began to veer off into one direction then another, peering into the dark corners and poking into holes in the walls and foundation. The pair had been silent since entering the clubhouse, which had been a good thing, because if he had been honest Dyson had not been ready for the onslaught to his senses.

The almost overpowering combination of Bo and Lauren's scents that filled the clubhouse had initially made it hard for Dyson to breath evenly or regularly. An initial reaction coming from deep inside him, a place that he knew he wasn't all that familiar with. Thankfully after a few shallower breaths he had focused on the other scents; Kenzi, stale take out, even the smell of the three leather jackets hung up near the door had helped his refocus and regain perspective.

Entering the basement had really helped, considering obviously things had died here recently, quite a few things he realized as he began to categorize the smells assaulting him.

"Just how big a rat problem do you guys have?" Dyson stopped his walk around the basement, turning to Bo as he asked the question.

"We don't have a rat problem, we have a mouse problem, a house mouse problem, and it's not a problem, it's controlled." She replied defensively but Dyson sniffed the air again and shook his head.

"No, these are rats I'm smelling, dead ones." He confirmed, his eyes yellowing out and he took another long breath and began walking towards her purposefully.

Bo wished she could say she didn't freak out immediately, his demeanour reminding her a little too much of recent times, and it made her take a step back, one hand coming up almost like she was ready to fight.

"Sorry." The colour flooded back into his eyes. "Could you?" He motioned for Bo to move to the side.

"We found a headless rat in the kitchen, right after the Garuda, that was the first rat we'd seen. Lauren thought we might have something bigger like a raccoon that attacked it, so I chicken wired all the outside openings. Since then we've had two more dead ones, and we've had two incidents with Kenzi down here in the basement. The first time there was just blood and her in a panic, the second we found the dead raccoon and her unconscious on the island." She tried to actually be helpful as she moved to the side letting him do his sweep, as she realized now that was what he had been doing.

"Unfortunately that could have wired it in." Dyson pointed out logically as he moved over to a stack of old boxes. He took the top one off the pile and opened the lid, automatically wincing and looking away when he did.

"What did you find?" Bo couldn't help coming over and looking inside immediately. Of course, the smell was the first thing that hit her and then the sight of an oozing decomposing mass of at least a dozen partial rat corpses made her step back and try to keep the vomit that rose in the back of her throat down. "Now its keeping leftovers?"

"Well it helps us narrow things down. We're not talking pack any more, nothing small or too animalistic, this thing is killing and storing kills." Dyson closed the box and put it on the floor.

"You mean some almost fae, underfae has been living in my basement eating my rats?" Bo's face showed her displeasure. "I left Kenzi alone in here with it for days, who knows what it has done to screw up her blood." A sense of panic hit her again. "It is either in here or there has to be a way its getting in and out." She began to move other boxes looking for some sort of secret entrance.

"You didn't know." The wolf said softly, moving towards her to put his hand on her arm comfortingly.

Bo didn't step away but she looked at his hand almost in shock for a minute where it was sitting on her arm. She then looked up into his face, frowning when she saw the shadows of the cuts and bruises she'd inflicted on him. But even as she felt bad about that, she felt nothing but cold indifference to his touch. He looked back at her for a moment before he slowly pulled his hand back.

"We need to find it and kill it." Bo re-centred herself, finally stepping away from him without making any comment on his attempt at reassurance. She pushed over another stack of boxes, hoping more rat bodies didn't spill out.

-x-

Lauren had managed to quickly put together a sandwich for Kenzi, and then had returned to her specimen wanting to finish up her examination as soon as possible. She checked back over what she had already written down, remembering again what had struck her as odd as she re-read the point notation on her clipboard. Putting on a new pair of gloves, Lauren pulled the magnifying glass back into place and checked over the main zone of 'initial' contact, as she had determined it.

Picking up her tweezers again, Lauren began separating tissue layers, slowly noting the high level of necrosis in the flesh. It was as she was pulling back one of the inner layers that the blonde paused, poking the tweezers into the torn flesh she latched onto what had caught her eye, though as she pulled it back her whole world rather ground to a stop.

Caught in between the fine end of the tweezers tip was a broken off sparkly black polished fingernail. Lauren moved her discovery under the large magnifier and held it there, turning it over and over, noting the tear mark along the bottom where it had obviously come off from the nail bed.

With an impossibly loud slam the sliding door to the patio door closed making Lauren jump, her grip on the tweezers slipped sending them clattering onto the tray.

"Find something in-ter-esting." Kenzi's voice had an eerie deep quality as she stood in front of now closed door.

"Nothing conclusive." Lauren looked over to her, moving round to the front of the table. "Finish your sandwich?" She asked trying not to let her growing fear overwhelm her.

"Yes." Kenzi watched the move the doctor made. "But..." She took a step towards her and then another, almost looking as if she was concentrating hard on the disjointed movements. "I'm still hungry."

"I have fruit." Lauren replied pulling off her gloves and mask again slowly. "Why don't you go back outside, lie down I'll get you some." She offered her voice soft.

"I think I've had enough of the outside." Kenzi shook her head, licking her lips as she stepped over the arm of the chair and stood on the cushion for a long moment before she actually literally seemed to drop down to sit on her bent up legs. "And it smells better in here." She licked her lips again, her skin seeming to go paler and paler right before Lauren's eyes.

"Kenzi, you know that you're not well." The blonde kept her voice even and soft. "And you know how worried we all are about that, I really think you've been pushing yourself too much today. You really should lie down."

"I do seem to tire easily." She admitted actually seeming to agree with Lauren for a moment before letting her head lull backwards at an almost impossible angle before it suddenly snapped back to upright, the noticeable difference being the younger woman's usually blue eyes were just dead white orbs. "But you see... I'm soooo hungry."

-x-


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimers: All original property is owned by Showcase, and we do not infer that any characters, creations or the concept of 'Lost Girl' are our property and the following fan fiction has been written purely for entertainment purposes only.

Pairings: Bo/Lauren Set directly after our story "Faeral", the third story in an AU plot line.

Rating: M (Contains scenes of violence, sexuality and nudity)

**Faery Tale: Chapter Fifteen**

By: The Rainbowwriters

True to his word, Dyson did the most through sweep of the house that he could. Even removing some of the chicken wire that Bo had carefully rigged to block entrances to the club house. He checked every nook and every cranny, trying to find some evidence of their underfae visitor or the creature itself. When he had finally stood with her in the living room, telling her what he had sensed on his check of the property, Bo knew she was listening to what the wolf was telling her, but the problem was her brain just couldn't make any sense of it.

"You really didn't smell anything? Nothing other than Kenzi, Lauren, myself and the dead rats?" Bo felt a mild panic building up in the pit of her stomach. "Do many underfae not smell?"

"Some, very few." Dyson shook his head. "More would try to mask their scent rather than have none in the first place." He admitted the simple logistical fact. "Let me take a minute to go double check in the basement, I'll see if any of the kills are fresh enough to get a residual scent off of." He moved from the bottom of the main staircase towards the basement door, stopping when she moved to follow him. "You don't really want to see this Bo." He admitted softly.

Bo huffed to herself and paced back into the living room, letting him go down into the basement himself. She made one lap around the couch, and then huffed again as she pulled out her phone. She immediately dialled Lauren's number, wanting to advise her of the new information Dyson had found, that had done nothing but further confuse the situation they were facing.

-x-

Lauren's eyes strayed from watching Kenzi, to the ringing vibrating phone that was so close to her left hand. The only hand that she could really still move, as the other one was more or less trapped between the table that she had been performing the examination of the raccoon on and the wall. The desk was being held there by one of Kenzi's feet that the slender girl had wedged against the corner, seemingly putting no effort into the entrapment, but at the same time, Lauren was unable to free herself.

"Don't answer it." Kenzi barked at Lauren, white eyes followed Lauren's quick change of focus and she shook her head slowly, almost admonishing the doctor.

"Kenzi it's Bo, if I don't answer it you know she will worry." Lauren was doing her best to keep her panic controlled. After all she wasn't exactly sure what was going on. The movement the small woman had made to entrap her had been a blur. Kenzi had almost launched herself off the couch, landed on the ground near the table, spun in a low circle and used just one foot, the foot now pressing on the table edge, to push it into her. The planned move had trapped both it and her back to the wall, though the motion had purposely angled the table at the last minute to give the blonde a little room so as to not squash her flat against the wall but kitty corner her so she had no where to run. "And if Bo is worried she will race back here."

"That's fine, why wouldn't that be fine? We both love the Bo right?" Kenzi turned and looked at the blonde, tipping her head she oddly sniffed the air and then moved closer to the table to sniff the rather putrefying corpse more specifically. "Are you done with that?" She asked in an oddly polite tone considering the request.

"I'm answering the phone." Lauren kept her voice even and she was glad when the sentence made the smaller woman back up a bit. Grabbing the small cell phone Lauren put it straight to her ear. "Hi Bo." She said clearly, watching how Kenzi paced back and forth her eyes constantly on the corpse of the raccoon. Once or twice reaching out to poke a finger at it, never quite making contact with the matted fur and open flesh.

"Dyson thinks he can narrow things down more; it isn't a pack, and whatever it is has been storing dead rats in the boxes downstairs." Bo began to fill her in on the useful information they had come up with.

"Well that's good because answers are really needed." Lauren said her eyes watching Kenzi's, the way her small body was twitching with spasms making the doctor inside her head confident that whatever was happening to Kenzi, it wasn't something that the young woman was in control of. "Bo..." She said the succubus' name in the most serious telepathic tone she could trying to make her understand things were very wrong where she was.

"Lauren..." Bo repeated her name in a tight tone, somehow knowing just from the doctor's seeming indifference to the information and that Lauren didn't push for details that something wasn't right. The level of utter distraction the blonde had in her voice had to mean something. "What is going on there?"

"You need to do what you feel is right." Lauren didn't even address the succubus' question, which she hoped in itself would give Bo all the information she need.

"If something is wrong, say microscope in your next sentence." If Lauren could have seen Bo she would have seen the way the succubus was standing stock still, gripping on the cellphone as if it was truly a lifeline.

"No, I think the microscope is fine, dirty slide maybe. You do all you need to at the club house. I'll give Kenzi your love." Lauren repeated the word, feeling a odd sense of relief that her lover had caught on. It might not help her in the short term as Bo was still at the clubhouse, but at least it meant help would be coming.

"I'm on my way now." Bo vowed her voice, reassuring Lauren that she had understood something was greatly amiss, and as the phone went dead it was clear the Succubus was already on the move.

"You like things so clean." Seemingly unaffected by any conversation Lauren had had on the phone, Kenzi had moved away momentarily from the desk. Confident that Lauren couldn't move it herself to get free, she pulled out one of the doctor's missing latex gloves from her pocket. She unrolled it so that the blood stained side was out and made a bit of fun of slapping it against a white area of wall so that blood splattered against it in odd patterns before Kenzi made a long streak of red down the middle. "I remember when humans used to be dirty,.. so dirty..." She licked her lips again, bringing her fingers up to suck on one as she dropped the glove.

"Let me help you." Lauren stood as straight as she could in the confined area. "I think I know what you want, I can get you something you want, but I need to get out from behind this table."

"What do you think I want?" Again Kenzi's head tipped at an oblique angle, her arm contorting to point at Lauren.

"That." Lauren nodded to the blood stains on the wall. White eyes looked from Lauren to the wall and back again, a frown pulling at bluish lips.

"I want to eat, I'm hungry." Kenzi's deep voice took on an urgent tone. "This time is so clean, so clean... there is no food, I have tried to make food but it takes so long and the meals are so small." She lamented moving closer to the desk.

"If you let me out from behind here I can get you something that will help your hunger." She clarified wanting to keep Kenzi's attention as much as she could, keep her talking and focused on something other than hurting the blonde. "I am a doctor, I have blood."

"Blood?" For the first time Kenzi's features were pulled into something akin to a smile, her usually white teeth seeming to have transformed as much of her eyes and were now dark and stained yellow, and looked a little jagged almost, unevenly pressing into her lower lip a little.

In as much of a blur as the original move, Kenzi used her arm and with a twirl of her body, pulled the desk away from Lauren and sent it spinning almost over to the kitchen island.

The blonde instantly rubbed her compressed limb but at the same time moved to the locked mini fridge where she kept all her biological medical supplies. She had four units of whole blood still stored in it that she had ordered brought in the day before from the compound, just in case things had turned horrible in the night and it was needed.

As soon as the fridge door was open and the sterile plastic bags of the bright red liquid were visible, Kenzi was across the room and pulling at the interior of the fridge to get at them, sending other bottles scattering to break on the floor by her feet.

To Lauren's shock, even with what her brain was figuring out, Kenzi stayed squatted down in front of the small stainless steal fridge and took one bag out holding it in both hands. She bit into the corner of it with her elongated teeth and without hesitation the room filled with an animalistic sucking noise as the crouched figure tried to consume what was in the bag at a fast greedy pace. It took her a long silent few minutes to consume most of what was in the bag, Lauren finding herself frozen in place as she watched the horrific spectacle.

"So long..." Words came between gulps as Kenzi tore a bigger hole to begin to pour the last of the liquid down her throat. Her head tipped back at an impossible angle, and her jaw seemed to elongate and open wider then should have been possible. Grabbing at a second bag, Kenzi ripped into it less carefully, a lot of the contents spilling over her hands and arms. Not that she seemed to notice or mind as she tipped the rest of it into her mouth. When finally she had consumed most of this one as well, she chewed on the edge of the bag for a moment before tossing it at Lauren. "You feed too." She encouraged as the bag wetly slapped the blonde on the arm.

"What... what is your name?" Lauren didn't want to admit it clearly, but at the same time as she watched deep black veins appear across Kenzi's cheeks and down her arms, the fact that the sick young woman was transforming into something else, something clearly fae or underfae in nature was undeniable. None of her actions, contortionist abilities or her appetite could be human.

Turning her head again to look at Lauren as she reached for a third bag, there came a cracking sound from Kenzi's neck as she stretched it forward impossibly far to look at Lauren and then pulled back to a more normal stance.

"Septima." She replied as if the information should already be known. "Feed." Her voice was a little more demanding as the first empty bag was also tossed at Lauren.

Lauren reached down and picked up one of the bags between two fingers, noting how Kenzi had seemed to bite off the edge and consume even the mouthful of plastic in her quest to get to the contents.

"I've fed already." Lauren tried to appease the idea as she put the bag down on the work desk.

"Of course... of course... masters always feed first." Septima's low voice seemed to nod in appreciation for the words and for the blood she was ingesting. White eyes scanned the room more now as the creature seemed more content almost, seeming to stop to enjoy the second half of the third bag of blood. "Septima understands now." The creature's gaze stalled, its features morphing into something akin to a smile. "Master fed already."

Lauren's eyes followed the white ones at their urging and with a shiver that overtook her whole body she realized that the creature inside Kenzi was looking at the large stain in the concrete from where Nadia had fallen. Clearly whatever entity was overtaking Kenzi it could trace the almost minute amount of lingering blood and decay that had seeped into the concrete and couldn't be cleaned away.

The blonde had to clamp down on her jaw to keep her immediate reaction of denying that she'd eaten Nadia from coming out, and at the same time it helped her push down the vomit from the back of her throat at the idea. Again she found herself watching in silence as Kenzi finished the third and then fourth bag of blood, her appetite seemingly endless.

"Does that mean maybe Septima can eat the vermin?" More or less all of Kenzi's upper teeth were now elongated and jagged at the ends, turned to a dark brown in contrast to her black gums. Her fingernails had grown out long and looked slightly hooked, though the middle one on her left hand was broken off. She looked over to the raccoon corpse with visible anticipation.

"I can get better things to eat than vermin." Lauren shook her head trying to keep some semblance of sanity in her head. It was clear that whatever was taking over Kenzi, it currently viewed her as some sort of 'master' since she had been able to feed it. She knew she needed to use this to her advantage as much as she could, both for her own safety and to find out how to help get Kenzi back. By her panicked appraisal Bo should be almost back to the apartment and she prayed she could stall long enough. "First Septima needs to tell Master..." She used the word hesitantly. "More about Septima."

"No, no, Master tell Septima all, all that she wants Septima to do." Kenzi literally scuttled across the floor towards Lauren, using her hands and feet in a hop-skip like motion and then she jumped up on the highest surface near Lauren leaning out to rest her head against Lauren's. "Septima will make the Master's enemies pay... will make them all pay with their lives." A cackling laugh erupted again from Kenzi's throat and Lauren was again left to try to swallow down the bile in her throat as she was hit by the deep, thick smell of decay coming from the 'creature' so close to her. "Septima will make the world dirty again for Master."

It was at that moment, as Lauren prayed in her head for it to happen, that the apartment door flung open to reveal Bo framed in the doorway, the wolf visible not far behind her. Next to Lauren, Septima tensed and began to snarl in the back of her throat at the sudden interruption.

Of course before Bo and Dyson stepped into the room, Lauren had tried to imagine her first meeting with the 'cured' wolf a dozen or so times but this was nothing like anything she'd imagined. Now she just felt an intense feeling of actual relief that he was here as well as her lover, if for no other reason than she had little to no reason to believe Bo's powers would do anything to whatever Kenzi was right now. The wolf's physical strength was possibly the only chance they all had to survive this.

For her part, Bo was seriously unprepared for what she was faced with, just the sight of a very 'undead' looking Kenzi perched high on the back of the couch, almost on Lauren's shoulder nearly nuzzling into the blonde's neck was disturbing enough, but add to that the fact that Kenzi was soaked in blood and Lauren had traces of it on her all white scrubs was enough to turn the succubus' blood to ice.

Dyson too clearly had not been ready to see what the scene that they walked in on. The shiver that hit his spine, visibly making him tense, though to his credit he managed not to instinctively wolf out, remembering the huge adverse reaction that could have on Lauren.

Of everyone the most effected of the group however was Kenzi, or Septima. The very sight of the fae shifter and Bo walking in brandishing a short sword made her pull her body into a tall upright position and move directly behind Lauren, still managing somehow to stay higher than the blonde.

"They come to harm us master, we must run master, we must run." She urged Lauren as her body sprung upwards to grab the highest point in the staircase banister that she could. Her other clawed hand reaching down to try to pull the blonde up with her, first by the shoulder, but as the sharp claws tore through the thin material covering Lauren's body all that happened was she pulled Lauren's arm upwards and scratched through the cotton into her skin.

Seeing that Lauren was about to be literally pulled away by whatever Kenzi was, Bo rushed over and jumped up a little, catching hold of her lover by the waist, just in time to end up in a slight tug of war with her possessed best friend. Only after it was apparent that Septima was in danger of falling back down and them both being 'captured' did the claws retract from Lauren's arm and the pale figure almost spider like crawled up the banister, slipping between the gaps of it to hesitate briefly on the landing, white orbs looking down at Lauren.

"I will return master, I will free you from our enemies." It hissed in a low rumble and then with incredible speed it disappeared into the main bedroom floor.

"On it." Dyson breathed out, his voice low as in a blur of movement he was off up the stairs after her, intent on boxing her into whatever bedroom he could in order to subdue her. Not that he had processed what was going on, he just knew that whatever was it was right now, Kenzi needed to be contained.

Bo barely nodded at him, her focus on her lover, who she held on to tightly as she carefully lowered her to her feet and then held on to her feeling the constant tremor that shook their bodies, though at this point she honestly didn't know if it was Lauren or her that was causing it.

"It's never been something in the club house." Lauren shook her head looking up at Bo, deep regret filled her eyes as she felt suddenly like she had let her lover down by failing to figure it out earlier, she heard her voice shake as her body began to tremor more as the endorphins and adrenaline began to filter through her system. "It's something in Kenzi."

Bo was about to try to say more, try to understand what had gone on while she was racing back here but Dyson unexpectedly came rushing back down the stairs, pausing only for a moment.

"She broke through the window, scaled up the side of the building, heading for the roof, I'm going to try and track her." Though he was saying the words, his disbelief was obvious. With only a brief glance at the two of them and a nod of confirmation from Bo, he raced out.

"Did she hurt you?" Bo began to lead Lauren towards the couch to sit down wanting desperately to look her for injury. Her mind was racing a mile a minute unable to process the images of 'exorcist' Kenzi covered in blood and crawling around the walls, the idea that she had climbed out of the window and up the building...No her mind definitely wasn't processing that so she needed to focus on Lauren, also covered in blood. Therefore issue one needed to be, was it hers and what was hurt.

"That doesn't matter right now." Lauren shook her head and pushed away Bo's hands as they tried to run over her arms. She paced away from Bo, nearly slipping on a discarded blood pack, as she tried to walk towards where a short stack of books were sitting on the table. "We have to find Kenzi." She picked up the top book and then a single sheet of paper, Kenzi's latest test results. "Ever since I got the first results it's been bothering me, and now I understand why..." She began turning back to look at Bo briefly as she moved back to the examination table that was now nearly in the kitchen since Kenzi had tossed it. "Piecing together the information you got from Trick, the evidence I got from the cadaver, the results and what I just witnessed..." She stopped and finally looked at Bo, "I think I know what was in that jar Bo and if I'm right..." She stopped with a frown that was possibly the most worrying that Bo had ever seen. "Kenzi is in danger, tremendous danger."

-x-

Only a short time later, everyone had relocated to the Dal to fill Trick in on what had happened. Bo had taken Lauren straight there after Dyson had returned to the apartment shortly after leaving to confirm that he'd lost her, ultimately she'd turned out to be too fast and stealthy for him to follow.

The tension in the backroom was high, the cause of it a combination of what was going on with Kenzi and the simple fact that Lauren and Dyson were mere feet away from each other. Though in the wolf's favour, he had been very careful to give the blonde a wide berth, migrating to a far point of the room that still allowed him to be part of the conversation but didn't force his presence on her in anyway.

"I believe that Lauren's hypothesis is completely correct." Trick made his way behind the bar with an enormously large book in both arms. He dropped it with a thud onto a table top, and carefully opened it to a page marked with a golden cord that was built into the book's binding. "Septima, is the seventh ghoul created by the necromancer Hackrel centuries ago. He created thirteen in total, an unholy coven of creatures that he could unleash on the world, to spread disease and death everywhere they went in his name until all cowered before him in fear."

"Wait." Bo put up her hand not even looking at the book just working on what Trick was saying. "(A) Necromancers exists; (B) they can just make ghouls and (C) they gives them names, like they're their children? I thought the fae had laws, standards at least, saying no to human fae relationships beat making ghouls and having necromancers on the things to make a law about list?"

"There are very strict laws about the conduct of any fae with necromancy powers. Most practitioners were destroyed before the great laws were written to stop the war." Trick tried to soothe her as much as he could with the historical knowledge.

"Bo..." Dyson very softly tried to help. "Hackrel was a particularly powerful Druid, possibly the most powerful necromancer in fae history. His creations were like children to him, and like himself his children have been hunted down over the centuries to destroy them."

"Bo, to say that Hackrel created the Ghouls is a little, well..." Lauren looked at Trick briefly. "Wrong." She used the word when she couldn't think of a better one, after all it had been a really long day for her already. "They are summoned, Ghouls exist as underfae but not in our dimension." She shook her head. "They live between here and there, it's complicated, what Hackrel did was call them out from the inbetween, making them underfae slaves that could and did cause massive problems here on earth, mainly from the twelfth to the seventeenth centuries." She gave Bo the more accurate background story.

"Yes." Trick gave Lauren a slim smile, after all she was right but he wasn't sure his granddaughter was going to be competent enough right now to discuss the existence of parallel dimensions. "Among other things, his ghouls were the cause of and helped to spread the Black Death through out Europe that you may have studied in school."

"I thought that was fleas?" Bo frowned hard, indeed her brain was starting to hurt.

"The fae contagion that the ghouls carried was found by human researchers in fleas, they attributed the plague to that but in fact it was due to the ghouls consumption of the vermin and..." For the first time Lauren's scientific brain stalled as she realized what she was about to reveal. "Human corpses that further multiplied the contagions." She stopped looking at her lover with a deep emotional frown. "Oh Bo, I am so sorry, I have been so stupid."

"Lauren, no." Bo turned to her and shook her head. "Nothing about anything has been simple since the Garuda, you not putting together a headless mouse in the kitchen with Kenzi being ghoulified by the Norn is not your fault, or anyone's." She glanced at the others who also looked somewhat guilty for their own parts in this. "Wait... how the hell did this Septima the Ghoul get in a jar at the Norn's? And what the hell happened to the others? Because if that old crone has them in lined up in a ghoul spice rack, I'm picking up another chain saw and putting an end to this once and for all."

"I don't have answers to those questions Bo." Trick shook his head. "Not ones that will satisfy you, all I do know is that in this dimension, ghouls are indestructible, ageless and self perpetuating."

"Somebody dumb that down for me." Bo looked between them all immediately.

"You can't kill them Bo." Lauren turned to look at her lover, her face looking suddenly extremely tired and worn.

"Then how come the whole world isn't worshipping the great Mackerel, fish god of everything?" Bo narrowed her eyes. "There has to be a way to do something."

"It Hackrel and, ghouls must be summoned into a host." It was Dyson's voice that made the grim revelation, "They start in one body, use it to grow stronger and begin to spread their particular pathogens. Then when that body fails, they transfer to another one, and so forth. The four ghouls of the Black Death were hunted down by fae, from host to host until they could be cornered and the body they occupied destroyed. In the right circumstance, the lack of a host will return them to the in between."

"Why is it that every time you open your mouth recently you say something that makes me want to hurt you, a lot?" Bo turned to snarl at Dyson, who immediately took a step back holding up his hands in surrender.

"That was the past, medicine was in its infancy. Doctors still wore masks with herbs in the noses to warn off evil spirits, there is a lot we can try to do to help Kenzi. The most important thing is finding her and containing Septima before she becomes Kenzi, before she can become what she is. A resurgence of something like the black death could kill thousands, if not more, if its not contained." Lauren tried to get Bo to refocus away from the wolf, despite the past they all now shared, this simply wasn't his doing. "Until fully satiated Septima will be driven by the primary and singular desire to eat, it is the reason Kenzi's been so hungry all this time. If we can find her, contain her and keep Septima satiated it will give me time to work on options."

Bo looked away from Dyson and focused on Lauren, really not wanting to deal with negativity right now. What she needed was a plan, and god bless her lover, Lauren seemed to have one.

"Lauren is right Bo." Trick's voice added softly to support the blonde's argument. "In all cases when a ghoul is loose, the primary goal is to capture and contain the creature. Once we have done that, we can begin to formulate a way to help Kenzi." He looked at the wolf briefly as if silently warding him off saying anything specific that might be in the fore front of his mind.

"I'm not sure I understand, am I looking for Kenzi or am I looking for a ghoul, because those two are not the same thing and I refuse to believe that they are." She announced flatly looking between Lauren and Trick for input.

"This is where I'm going to let you down." Lauren was honest and apologetic, "I just don't know enough about ghoul transformation to give you and answer Bo. There hasn't been a case for hundreds of years." She breathed out looking at Trick.

"I think the best way to start is to begin as fae would have in the past." He momentarily looked at Dyson. "All the places a ghoul will gravitate to feed must be monitored and checked for activity; cemeteries, hospitals, the city morgue." He looked to hold his granddaughter's eyes. "If the ghoul remains in charge of Kenzi's body it will seek out food. I think it is far to believe if Kenzi is able to regain control of her body she will try to make contact with you. You efforts would therefore be best concentrated on the other locations I suggested. Lauren and I can begin to research everything we can on the creature and how it can be dealt with. I will also inform the Ash immediately, as should be done, but I will stress to him that only the most limited number of fae need be involved at this point. Misinformation on the subject could cause panic, which would only lead to more chaos." Trick added the important stage in the proceedings.

"Right, then we'll go find this ghoul and bring it back... no wait, where the hell am I supposed to put this damn thing?" Bo asked the important question. "I can't just bring it here if it's a plague carrying death bringer. Party in the Dal would take on a whole new meaning."

"If Trick is planning on informing Hale then I don't see any reason why we can't ask him to set up a quarantine unit at the lab." Lauren spoke up quickly, she could tell by the way Bo was wording things that her lover's handling of the situation was fraying.

"Yes a quarantine in the compound is a good idea, it would also ensure that you have instant access to any medical equipment you need." Trick nodded to Lauren's suggestion.

"It might be indestructible but it isn't all powerful Bo." Dyson finally spoke again trying to say something positive. "We find it, we snatch it and we put it in quarantine until we figure out what to do to help Kenzi."

All of a sudden, everyone's voice became like buzzing bees in Bo's ears, words and meaning lost with everything becoming just noise and irritation. The walls also seemed to be closing in around her, the air becoming thin... It was a feeling she knew and recognized, and one she needed to avoid.

"I need a minute." She put her hand up. "I'm going to get some air." She explained sliding off her stool and moving with a purpose to the exit, happy when the cooler air of the street outside met her.

It was all such a jumbled mess that even though they now had some idea of what was going on , the information was also full of holes. Bo liked answers not questions, especially when it came to someone as important as Kenzi. Momentarily she vividly remembered the moment from the night before when she had stood in the doorway to Lauren's master bedroom watching her best friend sleep. The feeling of numbness that had filled her body at the idea of anything happening to the feisty young woman that owned so much of her heart was debilitating and here she was less than twenty four hours later facing the chilling reality that she had no idea where Kenzi was.

If she just knew that, if she just had Kenzi somewhere safe then she would feel better. Bo tried to focus on one element of the problem at a time. This of course meant that she had to once again team up with Dyson and try not to focus on the cold core of anger she felt towards him, but instead on the united goal they had. She could do that, she decided as she took more deep breaths. She had to do that.

-x-

Inside the Dal, the three people left behind by the succubus remained in a strained silence for some time. Dyson kept his eyes on the beer that Trick had hurried to put in front of him, and for a long time Lauren tried to busy herself by looking at the book that the barkeep had placed on the bar.

"Lauren..." Dyson's voice finally broke the stalemate and brown eyes came slowly up to look at him. He seemed to want to start a few different ways but all of them suddenly were abandoned.

"Don't." Lauren staved him off trying to continue raising one hand to underline her urging for him to stop. "We have Kenzi to focus on right now."

Trick sensing the tension stepped back trying to look busy with a shelf of glassware, though he stayed close enough to monitor everything.

"Yes." Dyson agreed with her softly and seemed to tense his jaw, grinding his teeth together silently in thought. "But I really do want to tell you that I am sorry for what I put you through."

The blonde took a slow breath of her own and slipped off the bar stool she had been on to stand and purposefully she walked a few feet closer to him.

"Dyson please," Lauren held her head up high and locked eyes with him. "You have never liked me, professional courtesy was about the best we ever got to and where as I am sure that you would never have acted like you did towards me on your own volition don't try to be the better man here." She took a breath. "We both know you don't know what you did, what you're apologizing for." She added the vein of anger she felt from all of this growing as she looked at him. "The first time you attacked me, it was just intimidation and words, underlining what you could do. You made me feel inadequate and a little sorry for you, in short nothing you hadn't done before. The second time you lured me into a situation where you could isolate me and toy with me like prey; you made me feel as weak and as vulnerable as any human could feel faced with an enraged fae, and you threatened me with violence of every conceivable nature. Something that in all my years of working with the fae I haven't faced before, but I've known was possible, feared you might say." She took another breath, making sure she willed him to hold her eyes. "The third time..." She seemed to take a moment before she continued. "The third time you hunted me here, to rape me in front of Bo and everyone as a grand show of your power. A public show Dyson." She flared her nostrils at him, "I've never even had nightmares as sick as that." Her locked jaw muscles spasmed a little under the stress of being so clenched. "Until now." She amended her statement. "So that's what you're apologizing for, are you really still going to do it with that little sideways look and a down turned chin?" She demanded from him.

The wolf remained silent, his eyes shifting to look at the floor.

Lauren let all the air out of her lungs in a hard fast breath and then took two, three slower more controlled breaths.

"You damaged so much inside," She shook her head at him, the emotion she felt not showing in anything other than her eyes, "But I'll be damned if you get to see that." She added taking a moment to quickly brush her hair behind her ear. "You had no right to do that to me Dyson. No right at all."

Suddenly Lauren breached the distance between them and before either Trick or Dyson realized it she slapped the wolf hard across the face, the sharp sound filling the tense atmosphere almost like a gunshot.

Dyson took the surprisingly strong slap without moving, just his head snapped to the side from the force of it and the deep bruising still in his cheek instantly burned like fire, but still he didn't move. Slowly he brought his eyes up and met her burning brown ones, giving her a soft, silent, respect filled nod, understanding what she had wanted to prove. No matter what he had done, what he couldn't remember doing, it would always haunt the blonde but she was never going to let it ruin her, she was far stronger then that.

"I'm going to check on Bo." Lauren breathed out again and paced out of the room.


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimers: All original property is owned by Showcase, and we do not infer that any characters, creations or the concept of 'Lost Girl' are our property and the following fan fiction has been written purely for entertainment purposes only.

Pairings: Bo/Lauren Set directly after our story "Faeral", the third story in an AU plot line.

Rating: M (Contains scenes of violence, sexuality and nudity)

**Faery Tale: Chapter Sixteen**

By: The Rainbowwriters

It was only when Lauren breached the doors of the Dal and stepped out into the street that she realized just how hot the skin of her cheeks was, and how perturbed her interaction with Dyson had made her. Her chest felt tight and her shoulders drawn back, her whole body braced to fight against showing any emotion. She took a breath and forced herself to let go of a little of the tension, successfully managing to drop her shoulders some and ease the tightness across her lungs.

The blonde then glanced left and right from the doorway not really expecting to see her lover, knowing Bo as she did, the succubus would have slipped around to the side of the building to pace or to just rest somewhere, trying to find a focus in all this craziness. Gathering herself a little more she moved off from under the porch light around to the alley beside the Dal.

As she had expected Bo was pacing up and down the narrow, dimly lit lane, muttering something inaudible, occasionally pausing to flick her hair over her shoulder or kick at a stray piece of litter that was in range. However as soon as Lauren breached the entrance to the alley the brunette looked up, no matter how distraught and distracted she was, her nature always was ready to alert her to possible danger. Seeing it was Lauren however Bo just gave a slim smile and even began a soft walk towards her.

"I was just looking to bum a smoke." Lauren said the most uncharacteristic thing she could think of when the two met about half way down the alley, ironically enough right next to three large metallic dumpsters, where the floor was strewn with cigarette butts.

Bo chuckled softly shaking her head as she looked up at Lauren, who was wearing a pair of light blue scrubs that Trick had found for her at the Dal, it was better than the bloody mess that she had been in when they had hurried to the bar from Lauren's apartment.

"Kenzi has a ghoul inside her." The succubus pressed her fingers into her forehead as she obviously tried to process the words as she said them. "I don't even know what that means." She breathed out shaking her head more.

"It means we work together and we make her better." Lauren moved up closer to her lover and reached up her hand to stroke over her hair.

All motion in Bo's body stopped as she just stood there taking solace in her lover's touch and words.

"How come you always know just what to say?" The succubus blinked her chocolate brown eyes at Lauren in a look of love.

"Lucky I guess." Lauren smiled a little more under the gaze and slipped a little closer, the hand stroking Bo's hair moving to cup the succubus' cheek. "I just slapped Dyson across the face." She added her tone filled with equal measures of surprise and pride.

Bo's look of love turned from confusion, to contemplation and settled on one of pure adoration and pride.

"That's my girl." She whispered pressing forward to bring their lips together.

-x-

Working on Dyson's theory of approach Bo and the wolf had used Lauren's apartment as a starting point, checking it first, in case Septima had circled back around. From this point of origin, they began to work outwards to find what would logically be the first possible 'feeding ground' as the shifter had called it, which turned out to be Peaceful Heart Cemetery.

Bo couldn't help but feel uncomfortable as Dyson pulled them into the car park of the smaller size graveyard, after all it was very hard to inconspicuously search a place like this. There were places that demanded a level of respect and there were definitely behaviours that were acceptable and those that weren't. She wasn't sure that climbing through the ornamental bushes looking for her friend came in the acceptable category, no matter what the circumstances.

With a soft sigh she released her seat belt and pushed out of the car noting that there was at least fifteen other cars parked along with them. An audience was not what she needed right now. Glancing over the roof of the car at Dyson, Bo instantly noticed that the tall wolf's eyes had yellowed out as he was using his enhanced sense to track Kenzi better.

"Couldn't you have brought sunglasses?" She hissed at him.

"Believe it or not sunglasses inhibit my wolf sight." Dyson answered in a tight tone.

"We're using your nose." She pointed out the difference to him.

"Bo, I don't see the world the way you see it, no two species of fae see it the same way. There has been a lot of human activity here earlier today, my guess is recent interments. This will help draw the ghoul here." He tried to express what he could see, as much as he could smell; the particularly musky smell of freshly dug earth and the faint hues of cologne and perfume. "We need to check inside." He began to walk towards the tall wrought iron gate that marked the entrance to the cemetery and Bo moved quickly to keep up with him.

"In all of that do you sense her?" She pushed him to make an initial assessment.

"Nothing so far." Dyson made the admission in a soft voice, moving down the carefully planned stone walkway further into the manicured gardens. "But our other problem is its just getting dark." He looked up to the sky. "It prefers to operate in the nighttime, offers cover to its unique ways of travelling."

"Great." Bo sighed in frustration. "So how exactly does a ghoul know how to find food? I mean you and Trick suggested that this thing is old, and hasn't been around for a while, this world is not going to be the world it knows, how is it even going to know that this is like a mall food court?"

"That it will not be familiar with the modern world is an asset for us, but in many ways Bo it is just the aesthetics that have changed, not the fundamental facts." Dyson looked at her with a soft frown. "Human settlements always have a place where the dead are buried and usually a structure where they are kept when they are dead and being prepared for burial. In perfect circumstances a ghoul will not have to roam for food but will be supplied it by the fae who they see as their master."

"Wait, that's what Septima called Lauren." Bo looked at Dyson. "Would the ghoul try and find her? Are we wasting our time here?"

"No." Dyson shook his head again immediately. "Though it would make sense if Septima believed Lauren might be her new master since the doctor has been helping Kenzi's body deal with the transformation, feeding her." His feet stalled as he looked at the succubus, letting his eyes colour normally again. "The ghoul will need to feed, a good deal before it would even begin to attempt to find Lauren."

"So if this thing manages to find enough food before we catch it, then its going to make a beeline back to Lauren?" Bo's movement stalled with his.

"Yes, but Lauren isn't in any danger. The last thing a ghoul would do is turn on its master, technically Lauren has the best guard dog a human could want right now." He spelled out the reality of the perverse relationship Septima had granted Lauren.

"Okay so because Lauren fed this thing." She snarled the word remembering the look of her best friend covered in blood. "Septima would never hurt her, but which is more important to a ghoul finding its master or eating?"

"Food, always food." Dyson quickly summed up. "And because its transition into a ghoulish form isn't complete that will always be the higher draw. When the transformation is complete, and the hunger is satiated, then it will search for Lauren, to 'free' her from whatever captivity is being imposed upon her. The people around Lauren will be in danger, but not the doctor." He tried to fully explain things to Bo, clearly seeing that it hadn't occurred to her already. "But that would only occur when there is no humanity left." There was something about the way he was just able to say the words that couldn't help but rile Bo's ire.

"That humanity you are talking about is Kenzi." Bo reached out and hit him in the shoulder, hard enough in his unprepared state to make him take a half step back. "Which means we find it before it reaches anything close to full." She began to walk away. "Come on we have to figure out if she's here and if she's not move to the next place."

-x-

Lauren pushed a fully trolley of equipment over the small lip of the quarantine room that Hale had assigned for her use and moved it straight to a set of metallic drawers to unpack. If she admitted it, she liked things a certain way and she knew that when they found Kenzi, she wanted things to go as fast and as smooth as they could go. She didn't want to be searching for equipment and supplies. She wanted everything right there, right where she needed it.

As she diligently worked to store away what had been her third tray of supplies already, a slight scuffle at the door alerted her to the fact that someone had arrived. Looking up she wasn't that surprised to see the Siren stepping into the room, flanked at a respectable distance by his two bodyguards.

"Is it good Doc?" He asked moving properly into the room and looking around at the speciality equipment.

"It's almost ready." Lauren gave a nod, not surprised when he closed the door to effectively ensure they were alone in the prep room next to the actual quarantine suite, leaving his guards in the observation room beyond that. "Have you heard anything more?" She checked knowing that there was nothing she could do to help until Bo and Dyson actually caught Kenzi and brought her to the compound.

"Not yet." He shook his head. "I can't even believe this is happening." He admitted moving to pace in front of her. "I mean you're sure right?" He paused briefly looking at her. "It couldn't be something else?"

"I know I don't have anything historically to compare my findings too, but the findings that I do have are completely consistent with it being a ghoul possession. I wish I had some kind of doubt, but I don't." She frowned at him, seeing his obvious pain over the news. "Her blood results make perfect sense, as does her ravenous appetite, her hangovers or what we thought were hangovers, her pallor, the anaemia, all of it adds up to this."

"But the Norn just had this thing lying around on a shelf?" Hale shook his head in disbelief of how careless a fae could be. "Trick's so hyped even he's gone walk about on me, but because I'm The Ash now, I'm supposed to just sit here and pontificate." He huffed. "Does that sound right to you?"

"I understand you're used to being in the middle of the action." Lauren stepped closer to him putting her hand on his arm softly almost forgetting it was something she most certainly shouldn't be doing. "But you are helping Hale, if you're weren't the Ash right now..." As she said it she realized what she shouldn't be doing but as he hadn't objected and seemed to have taken the gesture as it was meant Lauren didn't move her hand to look awkward now. "Bo wouldn't even be able to bring her to the compound where we can do the very best to treat her. Don't mistake what you are doing as being negligent, it's critically important to saving Kenzi's life."

Hale breathed out nodding, obviously taking comfort from Lauren's words.

"I took the precaution of pulling some of the old tomes from the times of the plagues, to read what past Ash's have done, precautions they have taken, steps they have made." He admitted to the blonde as he looked at her, "I've not felt up to reading them yet because, well, that would be like admitting defeat or something wouldn't it?" He questioned her clearly lost in his new role.

"I'm trying to think of it more as a two pronged attack. First, trying find Kenzi to help her fight off the possession before the transformation is complete and secondly, to isolate all the possible contagions Septima is capable of spreading in order to stave off a city wide epidemic in both the Fae and human populations." Lauren explained to him how she was trying to approach the situation in her brain.

"I've already read that really most human illness don't affect the fae, not in the same way as humans at any rate." The Siren nodded that he understood the blonde's approach, but equally appreciated it if her focus was on the human element for once. "But Doc you have full use of anything here you need to help our human brothers and sisters, you know that right?"

"Thank you Ash." Lauren used the title not out of obligation but for the first time with full knowledge of not only who she was saying it too but actual belief in his motivations. "The truth is that depending on the contagions we are dealing with, a city wide epidemic might be unavoidable. If the contagion is allowed to spread past that though it could be the vector of a world wide problem. Ultimately meaning intense scrutiny here that would jeopardize the fae's anonymity."

"What goes around comes around." He replied with a series of small nods. "One step at a time doctor." He used her more formal title.

"Yes." Lauren gave him a soft smile, knowing it was easy for any of them to let their thoughts spiral into a doomsday scenario. "I just hope Bo can find her soon."

-x-

The office that Trick stood in was elegantly styled in black and chrome. Every piece of furniture from the large desk to the oversized abstract painting that took over the wall behind it was carefully selected and clearly expensive. One wall was made up of floor to ceiling windows that overlooked the heart of the city from the office's high perch in the building, underlining this was the elite location.

"Oh my now this is rich." The Morrigan swaggered into her office laughing softly as she looked over to examine exactly who her 'important visitor' was, she moved immediately to sit in her chair at behind the desk. "Is this really where my life has taken me? I get called out of an important business meeting to share cocktail tips with a bar keep? Or did my secretary think I was shopping around for a new garden ornament?"

"You know I am more than a bar keep Morrigan, I know how far rumours stretch and I doubt that Vex was able to keep his mouth closed about such a secret." Trick watched her with his eyes but remained perfectly calm and relaxed where he stood across from her, leaning lightly on his cane.

One of those unreadable smiles danced on the Morrigan's face for a brief moment as she crossed and recrossed her legs, before leaning forward putting her hands on the desk top in front of her.

"Oh very well then Blood King, what can I do for you? Is this about that annoying little Granddaughter of yours?" She asked rolling her eyes.

"In a way, but it is more about trying to avert a plague that will ravage this city." Trick outlined the bigger reason, even though for him truly it was about Bo. "A plague that will hurt both the light and the dark with the lives it takes from the humans."

"A plague how delicious." Evony's eyes sparkled. "But how would a plague get released in a nice, clean, modern city like this? Plagues are icky, dirty, old things." She shifted her position to sit back again. "Often caused by rats."

"And ghouls." Trick's mouth pulled into a thin line. "It is what you saw on Kenzi isn't it?"

"Oh darling you can't be the leader of the Dark and not spot one of your own, no matter how tiny the taint." She smiled brightly. "Well technically Ghouls aren't fae, but you know, who's worried about semantics when there's a plague to fuss over." She purred thoroughly enjoying the interaction. "I'm guessing you didn't spot it in time, shame that." She shrugged. "But if you know what it is, and what it's going to do, why are you here?" She frowned slightly.

"Because I need your help." Trick made sure to say the words slowly and with the necessary commitment. "As the leader of the Dark you are the only one who would know if there are any remaining harvesters."

Evony's bright laugh filled the room, even though across from her Trick stayed stoic and serious. In time her amusement petered out and she just sat staring at him, two powerful fae sizing up the reaction of the other.

"Is this a trap? You know full well any druids who chose the life of a harvester were rounded up and slaughtered, part of your peace treaty Blood King." Her eyes narrowed as she looked at him. "Too dangerous, too... dark you called them." She glowered. "You think I am a fool and a fool I would be if I even entertained the idea of answering your question." She snarled the words at him, insulted he would think she'd be taken in so easily. "Your family has made enough of a fool out of me recently... get out."

"I know that Aerisic of the Oak survived the cull." Trick didn't move to fulfil her request. "If he did there must have been others." He referenced the one Harvester he knew of that had survived the original cull, of course he had only known the old druid had lived because he had later been found dead by accident in a unrelated skirmish.

"Who I would what? Hand to you on a silver platter?" The Morrigan snorted as she studied him. "The transition cannot be complete yet old man, you know what to do." She stood up and eyed him coldly. "Or has your granddaughter's compassion weakened the once mighty Blood King?"

"It is not the ancient times... parts of bodies left in the street will not cause the ignorant panic of old. The humans will not simply hide in the churches' or their cellars hoping that garlic or holy water will scare the threat away. They will look for answers, find only more questions and keep looking. They will begin to discover the fae... blame them... and expose us all." He outlined another way how desperate a situation they were in. "All of your lavish life goes away and you spend your time hiding in cellars and sewers to avoid the mobs."

"Then you'd better hurry along and snap the little rat's neck then." Evony paused with her hand resting on the edge of the table. "Or should I have someone do it for you?"

"I hoped you could be made to see reason but clearly you cannot." Trick gave a sigh and then reached into the pocket of his vest. He put a small Polaroid on the table and slid it towards her. Framed in the white edging was a long roll of tapestry, the threads within showing a complicated tree of names connecting within the stitches. "I am sure you remember this."

"That was destroyed." Dark eyes narrowed at him again, as Evony snatched up the photo and stared at it.

"Then how would I have a Polaroid of it? Kodak didn't make his first camera until 1888." Trick kept her glare knowing indeed she believed the object had been destroyed in a fire in the early 1640's.

"That belongs to me." She snarled balling her free hand into a tight fist.

"Technically it does." He didn't give any hint of enjoying this standoff, after all he wasn't. He knew he was walking a fine line with the leader of the dark fae, and he must make sure this played out how he wanted it too. "I will help you reclaim what you have lost if you can locate a harvester to help me with my problem."

His request made the Morrigan laugh again before she studied the picture for another moment and then looked up at him with a tight smile..

"You may once have been king old man, but you aren't anymore. I will tell you this, and this alone in exchange for the return of what is rightfully mine." The Morrigan continued to stare down at Trick. "The Highbourne's survived your carnage, whether one will help you is not mine to order or to guess. By your rule they were not part of the dark and so live as the outcasts they are." She finally tilted her head to one side a little appraising him as he reacted to the news. "Better to break one neck than to barter with the devil, wouldn't you say old man?"

"The tapestry will be delivered to you within the hour." Trick tried to hide his reaction to the name that the Morrigan had given him. After all the Highbourne's had been one of the most powerful of the Druidic families. "Thank you." He gave a soft nod and began to retrace his route to the door.

"Thank me when your deal is done Blood King." She called loudly after him, a gleam of pure anger in her eyes. She hated to have been manipulated even to the extent that she had been, and her only solace was in knowing who she had sent him in search of.

-x-

The Peaceful Heart had been a bust, as had The Graceful Rest and St. Peter's Memorial Gardens. Bo's hope and faith were fading as quickly as the light, as she and Dyson pulled into the back street beside the city morgue.

"How much faster, more efficient and more, well ghoulish does this thing get at night?" The succubus asked of the wolf as she pushed out of the car, watching for traffic before jogging across the road and up over a small embankment towards the rear side of the fairly large building.

"Considerably." Dyson stated following her step for step. "A ghoul possesses night vision and other acute sensory gifts to help it locate food." He tried to explain how the creature would even have been likely to find the place. "Our advantage is that it hasn't fully emerged into this world..." He tried to phrase the reality they were facing another way. "Any large expenditures of energy in order to use its natural powers will increase its appetite, fundamentally wear it out if it can't find something to eat to recharge. Also if it does find food to recharge, there is a good chance that it will rest."

"Sorry?" Bo paused and looked at him. "Are you saying we could have been wandering around any one of those cemeteries this afternoon and if Septima had found enough 'food' we'd literally have fallen over a sleeping ghoul? More's the point anyone could have fallen over a sleeping ghoul." She stared at him unable to believe he'd missed out on telling her this little gem.

"If it had regressed in public, anyone who found a sleeping ghoul would only have seen Kenzi. But more likely it will try to find a safe place to digest its meal and completely evolve." Dyson realized no matter what he said right now he didn't have anything comforting to give Bo. "As I said before, in some ways if we are lucky it will lose its grip on her and Kenzi will be trying to find us."

"It's been six hours Dyson, I'm not thinking that's likely." Bo pointed out with a hard frown. "I think we're looking for tuckered out ghoul or big fat full ghoul."

"You're forgetting, Lauren fed it the better part of four pints of blood." He hated having to remind her of this but it was important. "Though that meal wouldn't be anything more then say you having a few seconds to consume chi from a human, it would fuel the ghoul for a short time." He noticed how her jaw was locking as her already thin patience seemed to stretch out to the breaking point. "Going on the idea that its hunger may be similar to any other predator's hunger, the appetizer that Lauren gave it would need to be replaced by a full meal by about now or it will be burning itself out of controlling Kenzi. I think our best chance if we get lucky enough to spot it is now, it should be sluggish and weak."

"This is all just guess work." Bo hissed as they reached a tall fence that sectioned off a small shipping lane at the back of the building. A large sign announced they needed to go left to get to the gate, which she could only hope wasn't going to prove too much of a challenge. "Let's go." She urged him not wanting to continue debating what state they were going to find her in, whenever they found her.

-x-


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimers: All original property is owned by Showcase, and we do not infer that any characters, creations or the concept of 'Lost Girl' are our property and the following fan fiction has been written purely for entertainment purposes only.

Pairings: Bo/Lauren Set directly after our story "Faeral", the third story in an AU plot line.

Rating: M (Contains scenes of violence, sexuality and nudity)

**Faery Tale: Chapter Seventeen**

By: The Rainbowwriters

It had turned out that the security around the city morgue was less than first class, in fact it seemed obvious that no one was concerned that anyone would want to break into the it. The gate to the facilities back delivery area was secured by a simple latch and knowing that a ghoul wouldn't have used the front door they began to look for evidence that Septima was there. The wolf had convinced Bo to do a perimeter check instead of just walking up to the front door and charming their way in, at least to see if there was anything unusual to focus their attentions on before they attempted to enter the facility.

"Bottom window." Dyson panned his flashlight to the broken pane of glass in a line of otherwise perfectly intact square basement level windows. He knelt down carefully on the grass beside it and sniffed the air, frowning when he didn't really pick up anything. But even if it had been Septima who broke the window and gained access to the building there was no telling how long ago it had done it, and the trail could be long cold by now.

Bo aimed her own flashlight around the area, frustration building in her already stressed mind. The thought that she had lost Kenzi already too real in her world for her to be thinking straight. Panning the beam of light over the surrounding foliage and brickwork, she suddenly stopped and panned back, focusing on the dark earth directly in front of the broken window.

"Footprint." She out lined the obvious foot print in the dirt, with its clear grip and tread features. "I'm guessing not many people are walking around barefoot trying to break into the morgue." She moved the light beam into the window, trying to see in past the broken glass to the room beyond.

"I would have thought the chances of it being something else other than our target is minimal." Dyson agreed with her. "So do we follow her, or go the more direct route." He asked of the succubus showing his willingness to follow her lead.

Bo glanced backwards towards the main entrance and then looked back at the opening offered to them.

"We do what she did." Bo smiled at him and then made the awkward manoeuvre to slip through the window, using a small table under it to step down into the dark room beyond. She heard Dyson follow her with a little more effort and scanned around with her flashlight. "Have you ever fought a ghoul before?" She asked trailing the light onto a series of three dark muddy prints that marred the clean white tiled floor before the lessening transfer of soil made the footprint incomplete then the trail disappeared completely just at a door.

"Yes." He made the soft admission as his light beam mapped out the sides of the room.

"What happened?" Bo whispered as she pushed through a door into the next holding room which only had one exit that led into a big double wide hallway beyond. Luckily with the late hour and a lack of deliveries, the full morgue area was not in use by the night shift.

"We defeated it." Dyson's reply was cagey to say the least.

"Thank you Mr. Helpful." Bo hissed in the darkness, using her flashlight to find a sign that pointed the way to the freezers.

When Dyson didn't object to her choice of direction, the icy ball in her stomach grew a little bigger. They followed the dimly lit corridor in silence for a while before Dyson suddenly slowed down.

"Bo, I should have probably said this earlier." He began as he glanced down the hallway, seeing as Bo now could that it soon branched off to the autopsy suites on the left and the main freezer room down the right corridor.

"You should have said what earlier?" Bo instantly stopped moving all together, pointing the beam of her flashlight at the centre of his chest. She stared at him anxiously, just the tone of his voice made her feel even more uneasy and she hadn't thought that was possible.

"You have been... you are... one of the strongest, one of the most amazing people I know Bo." He began taking in a soft breath as he stood a little more upright in the dim corridor turning to look at her. "And I know that after everything I did while going through the Buaigh that you fought for me even though I was hurting someone you loved very, very much."

"Dyson, this really isn't the time for this?" Bo stated flatly not sure what was causing him to suddenly start a speech about her virtues and his respect for her.

"It is the time because I really believe that you could... you would have forgiven me for what I did... in time." He looked at her his brow knotting slightly as he continued. "But I don't think you will ever forgive me for what I have to do today."

"Don't you dare, don't you dare go crazy on me again right now!" Bo hissed the words at him, stalking closer to poke her finger into his chest. "I can't take anymore shit than what I am already dealing with."

"I'm not going crazy, I've been trying to tell you Bo since the Dal but it never..." He shook his head. "It never came out right. There is only one way to stop this and it is here and now." He made things clearer. "Kenzi is here." He made the first point, flaring his nostrils. "I sensed her, smelled her as soon as we breached the corridor. There are no other humans around, on this floor of the building, no one for the ghoul to jump to..." He glanced down the corridor and reached towards Bo to put his hand on her arm. "Stay out here, I promise I will make it quick."

"Make what quick?" Bo blinked at him, trying to take in what he was so calmly saying to her. Unlike recently, when she had spoken to him under the effects of the Buaigh, his voice and his face had always had a quality of 'off-ness' to it. But right now, as he made the clearly sad proclamation to her she didn't see any hint of 'crazy' in him. Just a resolved grief, that scared her to her very core.

"Just stay here." He locked his jaw and began to move off down the hallway.

Bo watched him take the first few steps in slow motion as her head seemed to roar with everyone's voices and all the information they had given her so far about the foe that they were facing. The foe that was taking over her best friend from within, and turning her into an unthinkable unnatural creature summoned to spread disease and death. Until now she had been so focused on finding Kenzi that the question of what they would do then hadn't gotten much thought time. For that reason the moment came to her in a slow painful way, after all how did she really think that a ghoul taking over a human was cured?

"Stop, no Dyson." She found herself speaking the words first as she finally figured out what he was saying, what great tragedy he was about to be forced to participate in that would forever make her hate him. "That is Kenzi in there." She found her voice getting stronger, but his feet didn't stop moving and her whole body tensed suddenly realizing he had purposely got himself out of physical range of her so that she couldn't use her powers to sway him out of what he was about to do.

Unlike the unthinkable times when he was hunting Lauren, this Dyson was taking heavy steps towards the freezer room with a great burden, not relishing his role and picturing a glorious outcome as he had in his mania. This time he was trying to save Bo from the hardest act any friend could have to under take; a mission to be swift and strong, a mission to save Kenzi from the ghoul before it could overtake her, the necessary action to kill Kenzi before the nightmare of Septima became unstoppable.

"KENZI RUN!" Bo's voice was impossibly loud, covering over the noise of her now running feet on the tiled floor. As she reached the wolf, he tried to stop her but she slid sideways past him trying to reach the room beyond before he could. No plan that involved killing Kenzi was ever acceptable, the greater good be damned, Bo wasn't going to lose her best friend.

The Succubus burst into the large freezer room, still screaming orders for Kenzi to run that bounced hard in echo back at her. She came to a sliding stop on the tiled floor almost as soon as she entered. Dyson literally colliding into her back as he came running full tilt behind her, having caught up to her just when she reached the door. It was only with his quick movements that they didn't topple to the ground.

When they were both upright again, Bo stepped away from him still transfixed on the how the room swallowed up the light coming from the hallway doorway, making it impossible to see the very end of the long chilled room. Beside her, Dyson moved and began flicking on the lights via a long line of switches near the door. Each switch activated a section of overhead florescent lights that sat high above their heads in recessed panels in the ceiling, so that the room lit up in parts until the full extent of the scene before them was obvious.

In the now bright light, it was easy to see over a half dozen of the body freezers on the wall were open. The trays within pulled out, sheets ripped off and the corpses once so neatly placed within strewn onto the floor, most of them in pieces. Only two feet away from where they had stopped, a severed arm lay on the floor, three of its fingers missing.

Bo's raised her hand to her face to cover her look of abject shock at the horror movie type scene that greeted them. Before she could truly comprehend what had happened, a small voice snapped her mind to pay attention to it.

"Bo?" There came a distinctly human sob and the whisper of the succubus' name in Kenzi's voice.

On the far side of the room an open bottomed work top created a very dark corner, hidden from the main over head lights in shadow that seemed to be the only location that could be its source.

"Kenzi." Bo zoned in on her best friend's voice and snapped into motion immediately. "It's okay, I'm here now."

"It's not okay." Kenzi replied her voice haunted. "Where am I Bo?" The succubus could hear the younger woman's breathing shifting as Bo got closer, becoming rapid and shallow as the idea that she was 'rescued' made her resolve collapse.

Bo made it to the sheltered alcove in record time and peered into the darkness where she she saw Kenzi's petrified blue eyes staring back at her, wide and horrified. The younger woman's body scrunched up into an impossibly small ball, almost folded in on itself right in the corner, her head twisted to fit into the balled up shape but still looking out.

"Shush Kenzi, it's okay, you don't need to worry about any of that right now, just come with me." Bo held her hand out, wanting the younger girl to make the first move.

"I can't, I can't move..." Kenzi's voice cracked in obvious agony. "It hurts Bo."

"Okay, it's okay I'm here Kenzi.." Bo despite a coughed objection from Dyson behind her, clearly trying to get her to be more guarded, she reached in first lightly putting her hand on the first body part she could reach, "I'm going to take you to Lauren, you know she'll make it feel better." She kept her volume low, her tone soft and loving and she eased under the counter top and moved to cradle her best friends body as best as she could. She laid her hand flat against the side of Kenzi's head for a moment and just breathed with her thankful just to be holding her.

Kenzi smelled like death, blood and fear, all things that made Bo both angry and afraid at the same time, and yet perversely her main emotion as she sat their just holding her was joy, joy that they had found her, and that she had been the one to beat Dyson to her and stop what had been the 'fae' way of dealing with this.

"It hurts so much Bo." Kenzi sobbed.

It was only her best friends words that prompted the succubus into action again.

"We have to get her to Lauren." She called out of the crawl space to Dyson.

The wolf looked at the set up assessing the best course of action, and then stepping up to the rather intricate looking interlocking work surface area he simply gripped the part that Kenzi and Bo were sheltered beneath and pulled up, ripping it successfully off from the base, popping rivets and joists that didn't buckle or break under his strength. He flipped the large slab of metal and put it on the next section of work area.

"Let me take her." Dyson tried his best not to react to the blood and gore stained mess that was Kenzi, huddled against Bo's body looking almost like a broken marionette, her limbs at odd almost oblique angles, her clothes shredded the skin beneath them similarly damaged. "I just mean carry to her Bo." He assured her. "You need to get us past the night staff." He reminded her that they needed to get out of the morgue before they could think about getting her to the compound and Lauren.

"If you do one thing to hurt her, this time I will kill you." Bo warned him as she dropped a kiss on Kenzi's head and reluctantly transferred her into his arms so that she could get them out of there and back to the car.

-x-

It wasn't that Bo was shocked at how prepared Lauren had been for their arrival at the compound, it was more that she was once again impressed at just how amazing the blonde could be sometimes. No sooner had Dyson carried Kenzi through the outer door of the restricted zone than the technicians already prepped for their jobs began to spring into action.

The blonde's eyes were tracking over Kenzi's body a frown permanently etched on her brow as two larger techs listened to her count and then helped her lift the younger woman properly onto the large special care bed.

"Lauren?" Bo eventually found her voice blinking rapidly trying to filter out at least some of the crazy mass of movement in the room. She could not see Kenzi's body now for fae and equipment, and the only reason she could pinpoint Lauren was that the blonde was still at the head of the bed. Indeed Lauren was the one giving out orders and listening to the layers of medical babble that came back at her.

"As soon as I know anything Bo, I promise I'll tell you." Lauren glanced over her shoulder making sure to catch her lover's eyes for just a heartbeat before she focused back in again on her patient, obviously in full doctor mode.

"We should give them space." Dyson said in a low voice, at Bo's shoulder.

"Actually..." Lauren suddenly stopped giving her full attention to Kenzi and her technicians, and turned to them. "I need both your clothes, all of them and then Dyson a word." She tried to catch his eye hoping he would know better than to question her in this situation.

"Lauren?" It was Bo that questioned instead, ignoring the technician who had approached to lead them to an area to change and decontaminate.

"I need the cadavers from the morgue Bo, those that were touched. I wanted Dyson to lead the team heading to decontaminate." Lauren immediately explained what she had been going to ask of the wolf.

"I'll make sure nothing is missed." Dyson had also listened to the explanation and understood immediately what the doctor was asking of him. "You'll have everything within the hour."

"Thank you." The doctor glanced at him but didn't meet his eye before looking back at Bo. "I didn't want to ask you to do it." She explained more why she had asked to speak to him privately. "To think about any of that when you need to be focused on Kenzi."

"I just didn't..." Bo tried to explain her confusion as Dyson gave them both a nod and moved away as she began her explanation to the succubus. "She said everything hurt, she couldn't move." She changed her train of thought and tried to tell everything she thought was important to Lauren. "But she was Kenzi."

"Thank you, that's important." Lauren smiled more naturally at her lover. "I promise Bo, I'll look after her." She vowed wholeheartedly as her attention began to be pulled backwards again.

"I know you will." Bo showed her complete trust in the blonde. "I'll go..." She looked to where the other technician was hovering in wait for her.

"Let them do what they have to do and then there is an observation room you can come back too. You can see everything from there." Lauren offered lovingly.

"Go be brilliant." Bo reached out to take Lauren's hand and squeezed it just in time for another technician to call for Dr. Lewis' attention and orders.

-x-

In what seemed like a very short time, Bo began to feel as if she had somehow gotten caught up in science fiction movie. The inner door to Kenzi's treatment room had at once point been closed, and from that moment on everyone including Lauren began to look more in character for the genre. Everyone was wearing full biological hazard gear, including self contained respirators that covered their faces and made the use of microphones necessary to communicate.

Now in scrubs, Bo was standing next to a large plexiglass viewing window at the interior room, unable to actually see Kenzi for the equipment and staff. Everyone inside was busy doing any number of important looking things, many of them taking direct orders from Lauren who was co-coordinating everything.

As she watched, a machine with a robotic arm was brought in to scan Kenzi's entire body, while tube after tube of samples were brought out of the room to be processed in other areas of the lab. Even as Lauren viewed the scans on a wall mounted screen, Bo tried to study with her but found she couldn't make out anything in the strangely multicoloured pictures that the blonde scrolled through rapidly as she spoke to two other suit clad figures that lingered behind her.

Bo watched as her best friend was finally stripped of all the bloody clothes she was wearing and Bo watched in confusion as long white wrappings were brought in and for almost twenty minutes Lauren immobilized both Kenzi's legs and arms, before adding some wrappings that went around her shoulders and down her torso.

Bo tried to be patient, she tried to be quiet and respectful of everything that was going on. But as people continued to buzz around Kenzi, and Lauren continued to work she knew it could be some time before she got any answers and that fact was killing her. She needed to know how Kenzi was, what readings they were getting, and how much, even preliminarily, had the ghoul hurt her.

Bo was so preoccupied with her thoughts that she didn't even notice the small commotion that erupted when the Ash himself arrived and moved up beside her watching in silence for a few moments.

"I just received word that the morgue was secured and is being cleaned of all necessary materials." Hale spoke his voice soft and clearly worried as he took in the same scene Bo had been watching for some time.

Bo turned quickly and looked at the Siren, they exchanged a long look of complicated emotions before Hale let out a soft breath and smiled at her.

"You found her." He stated the first simple point that he wanted Bo to know he appreciated. "You're the best."

"I don't feel it." Bo was honest with him, her mouth pulling down into a hard frown. "But she was Kenzi when I found her." She wanted him to know that small fact.

"From all I read recently, that's a good thing, a great thing." Hale nodded encouragingly. "And the Doc looks like she has everything moving." He looked into the room beyond again.

"If anyone can help her it's Lauren." Bo agreed putting her confidence behind the blonde. "By the way, I'm purposely ignoring that you dropped Dyson on my head until we fix Kenzi, Mr. Ash." She turned sideways to arch an eyebrow at him.

"Fair enough." Hale nodded actually smiling at her warning, after all he was the Ash and she was just the unaligned Succubus. But somehow he knew her dressing down of him on the issue would be harsh but he had been willing to take that punishment when he'd made the decision in the first place.

Both of them suddenly jumped when Lauren tapped on the plexiglass window in front of them and pointed to the step down room to the right of the main area, before she made her way from Kenzi's room towards it.

Both of them quickly moved over, watching as she entered the sealed half of the step down room. Taking off all of the necessary equipment she had been wearing before she moved past the interior barrier to finally stand next to them. Bo had to bite down on her tongue waiting impatiently for Lauren to speak.

"Sorry that took longer than I had wanted it to. I just wanted to do everything I could to stabilize Kenzi and make her comfortable before I left her." Lauren apologized immediately, frowning softly at her lover especially.

"You're first duty is to your patient." Hale assured her with a soft nod.

"How is she?" Bo asked the question burning the inside of her mouth.

"Not good." Lauren was honest, in situations like this, it was all she knew to be. "I'd expected it, to an extent..." She went on. "But I wasn't sure to what extent I would be dealing with possession damage." She explained as she moved to flick on a large display screen on the wall. "You probably remember from the apartment." She kept glancing at Bo as she opened a picture diagram of a ghoul. "The ghoul has a very unique way of moving. The major joints do not function as normal human ones do for example. The closest motion a human would ever get would be if they were born with hyper-mobility." The doctor continued her explanation until Bo's blank look made her stop and correct herself. "If they were double jointed." She explained clearer. "Unfortunately for Kenzi, she wasn't born like that."

"What does that mean for Kenzi?" Bo asked the question trying to comprehend what this meant.

"It means that she has separated every major joint in her body; hips, shoulders..." Lauren winced as she explained. Both people listening to her grimaced in reaction and waited for more information. "I've reset everything and immobilized her, as well as medicated her to make her as comfortable as I can." She gave the first, very physical summary. "She's going to be out of it for a while." She added the fact mainly for Bo. "I've taken a lot of samples and I'm going to start on those now, but from my first examination the ghoul is dormant again and I think I can keep it that way for a while at least."

"Can I see her?" Bo asked the next important question.

"Of course you can, any time." Lauren nodded glancing at Hale suddenly, "That is if the Ash..."

"Please, of course she can." Hale gave his approval immediately. "I meant what I said before Doctor, the lab is at your disposal and under your authority regarding Kenzi's case." He tried to focus on the two of them but a wave at the main door told him he was needed. "Now if you'll both excuse me, I'll be back later to check on her and please keep me informed." He made the last comment to Lauren who nodded and he moved out of the room again.

"Did it do anything else to her?" Bo stepped closer to Lauren, needing intrinsically to be near the blonde with all the craziness going on around them.

"There are some minor cuts and scrapes to her hands, elbows, knees, that sort of thing." Lauren shook her head. "But no bones are actually broken, just dislocated or disjointed. There is some muscle tearing which is going to cause the most pain and take the longest to heal." She went on to explain in more depth. "The ghoul quite simple bent her in ways she wasn't meant to bend. Thankfully it didn't choose her neck or anything else more vital." She rolled her eyes as she made the honest comment.

"Okay, not good but not horrible." Bo nodded that she understood what Lauren was trying to say. "Now we have to get that thing out of her." She put forward the next step as she saw it.

"Yes, but so far I haven't heard anything from Trick, who from what I pieced together from Hale, was going to talk to someone about that." Lauren explained what little she understood. "Like I said Bo, I have a good idea medically how I'm going to maintain things as they are, for now." She stressed the temporary nature of the situation. "But I have to look to information sources far older than the ones I have at my usual disposal for an actual answer." She admitted her failing. "Did Dyson have anything helpful to suggest?"

"No." Bo almost just blurted out that originally he had been willing to make the 'sacrifice' to be the one to end Kenzi's suffering but she just couldn't. She'd take that up with him later. "So the best thing I can do is go talk to Trick and any other leads on how to get rid of this ghoul?"

"I don't even know if Trick is back from whoever he went to see but you could certainly try the Dal." Lauren nodded, giving her the silent okay to leave Kenzi at the lab. "As for other leads..." She breathed out, her mind whirling for a moment before she looked at Bo, catching a slight look in the succubus' eye. "Bo, no." She said flatly.

"She's the one who started all this Lauren, she's the one who had the damned bottle." Bo didn't try to deny what her lover had read into from her words. "I'm not going to make any deals, I just want to know what she knows about the ghoul."

"And how are you going to make her tell you that? I don't even know if your powers would work on her and..." Lauren visibly shivered. "I really don't even want to think about it."

"I know it sounds crazy, but old fae like her, I've learned they like to..." Bo began to explain her reasoning but was cut off.

"Bo, she's not fae." Lauren shook her head.

"I know she doesn't fall in the whole dark and light category thing but..." Bo questioned seeing Lauren continue to shake her head.

"No, Bo you don't understand, she's not fae." The blonde restated. "She's like the Great Wolf Spirit, The Garuda, she's not even remotely fae."

"Oh." This stalled Bo for a brief moment. "Yeah well that group of supernatural weirdo's likes to brag most of the time, and I don't think she'll be any exception. I just want to go see what she will say and if I get nothing, leave."

"Then I'll come with you." Lauren made the rather radical statement.

"Any other time I would say yes Lauren." Bo shook her head and reached up putting her hand on Lauren's arm. "But Kenzi needs you here, you are the only one who can help her while the rest of us find a way to deal with the ghoul." She glanced back to the quarantine room. "I promise I will be careful, and I won't accept any candy."

"Liar." Lauren looked at Bo bold faced as she said the word.

"Okay I would never let you near the Norn, but the rest was the truth." Bo frowned softly. "I need to see this thing, this super tree that has cursed my best friend with the seventh ghoul of Mackrel."

"Hackrel." Lauren corrected with a soft smile. "Ancient Necromancer not small pacific sea fish."

"Noted." Bo smiled back at her. "But I have to go and try, and hopefully by then Trick will be at the Dal again and I can find out what he's found out to relay back to you here."

"Could you drop in and bring Mr. Kickers back with you? I think it will help her psychologically." Lauren asked knowing that nothing she was going to say was going to change her lover's demands to visit the Norn for herself.

"Definitely, see you are the best person in the world to look after Kenzi." Bo finally let go of any inhibition she had and leaned in and kissed her. Lauren leaned into the kiss gratefully and then eased back down.

"Go and see her before you go." She said her voice a softer whisper, realizing that unlike other times, she didn't care who saw her kissing Bo.

-x-


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimers: All original property is owned by Showcase, and we do not infer that any characters, creations or the concept of 'Lost Girl' are our property and the following fan fiction has been written purely for entertainment purposes only.

Pairings: Bo/Lauren Set directly after our story "Faeral", the third story in an AU plot line.

Rating: M (Contains scenes of violence, sexuality and nudity)

**Faery Tale: Chapter Eighteen**

By: The Rainbowwriters

It seemed totally surreal to Bo that to find some ancient mystical being, she was driving through a popular leafy suburb, tyring desperately to avoid busy roads full of shoppers or commuters so that she could get to her destination as quickly as possible. But then again, she reflected as she finally pulled the Camaro to the curb and put it into park, everything about the world of the fae was surreal, so why she found the fact that the Norn lived in a suburban semi, with a giant tree hidden inside it odd was a little questionable.

Getting out of the car Bo march purposefully up the interlocked drive towards the home, noting the very average neighbourhood with a soft shake of her head. The newly installed door on the front of the cookie cutter house brought a wry smile to her face as it made her think of Kenzi, obviously her best friend had had to improvise an entrance on her last visit.

The succubus' next surprise came when the door just eased itself open as she stepped up onto the stoop. With a slight frown and her hand on the hilt of her dagger Bo cautiously went inside

"Hello, I'm looking for the Norn?" Bo called out and a light was snapped on revealing the big tree in the middle of the room and the old Crone who guarded it. Both it seemed had yet to fully recover from Kenzi's attack.

"I expected you sooner, much sooner great Garuda slayer." The Norn laughed into her lap before looking up at Bo, tipping her head first one way and then the other as she took in the succubus' presence. "You're not much to look at." She made the assessment with a sneer. "Considering the trouble you've caused."

"Thank you, you're no Marilyn Monroe yourself." Bo gave her a half sneer, half smile back. "You know why I'm here." She pointed out, wanting their exchange to remain direct.

"How do you like your new friend?" Now the Norn's laughter was louder and heartfelt.

"You know full well there is nothing 'new' about my friend, there is something very old about her which makes her not just my friend anymore." Bo watched her adversary carefully. "What exactly did you do to her?"

"Me? I did nothing to her." The old crone feigned innocence shaking her head. "A gift was given." She glanced at the tree and then at Bo. "Ghouls are such delightful companions, such charming table manners. Isn't she enjoying it? "

"No." Bo said simply knowing it would fulfil the woman's need to know of Kenzi's suffering.

"Are you really in my sanctuary pleading for information to save that human? That crass and disgusting creature who knows neither respect nor honour." The Norn snapped suddenly beginning to push her old body up to stand. "Get out of my sight before I decide I have been too kind to you all."

"Hold on crazy cat lady." Bo snapped back at her. "If it wasn't for you, waiting here to pray on people's desperation then none of this would have even started. You took advantage of Dyson and Kenzi, bless her intentions, wanted to even the score. Now just tell me what I want to know or is there a reason you don't want to? I thought your type liked to gloat. Or are you afraid that if you tell me what I want to know I would stop it, like I stopped that other unstoppable force the Garuda. Friend of yours by the way? If I know what you know I could save her. That's it isn't it? I can ruin your little plan?"

"Save her?" The Norn barked out a laugh. "You think there is a bargain to be made? Strike a deal and get your pet back?" She laughed more. "And you say I prey on the weak, fine words from you, the queen of seduction." She growled at Bo. "Can't your Grandfather work a way to save your little toy? The Great Blood King with his books and his scrolls can't help his little human? No, such a shame did his granddaughter use that card on the love of her life when her neck was snapped by my friend the Garuda?" She cackled again louder this time. "Turn then to the wolf, the one who ran to me, throwing himself at my feet full of love for you. He could solve this much quicker than you or I." She made a twisting motion with both hands like one would if wringing the neck of a chicken. "No, have you neutered him better than I did when I took his love? Best then to ask the lover you chose over him, humans have been slaughtering each other for millenniums. How much blood do you think your lover has on her hands or are her hand too busy patching her own wounds?"

"I don't understand why anyone even puts up with you." Bo snarled and turned on her heel heading to the door. "I am going to fix Kenzi, and then she and I are going to come back here with more chainsaws and a wood chipper."

"They put up with me succubus," The Norn pushed towards her. "Because I give them things, things they want, what will you give me for your friend?"

"Nothing." Bo shook her head. "I'll fix this without your help."

The Norn's cackle grew close to hysterical.

"Oh to see her face now, to hear her beloved Bo tell the world that she would give nothing to save someone who would risk it all for her." She hobbled closer to Bo leaning heavily on her cane. "You will die alone; sad, lonely and abandoned succubus. With an aged wolf by your side, more of a hindrance than an aide." She glowered at the brunette. "But that is your future, your now holds much more pain than that. First you will watch your friend wither and die as she turns into a creature unrecognizable to your eyes and mind, then in your sorrow you will turn to your dying lover, making the futile attempt to hold her fragile life in your arms only to watch it slip through them like water. Then succubus, then you will return to me." She nodded. "But it will not be armed with threats and a vicious tongue, but on your knees, with tears of repentance in your eyes."

Bo had a thousand acidic replies but she bit them all back and headed out the door.

"You know what it is that your friend becomes succubus, you came not for answers but for hope and I give no such thing, not for free." The Norn watched her walking, still laughing, "How good a doctor is your lover succubus? Physician heal thyself." She cackled more, the door slamming shut as soon as Bo's footstep hit the front porch, pushing her off it onto the front walk. With a look back at it of unbridled anger the succubus stalked back to her car.

-x-

When Trick had opened the door to let her into the Dal, Bo could tell that her grandfather had not been returned long to his natural habitat. On top of that he had a serious look of contemplation on his face, one that usually only occurred when he was trying to solve a great riddle. She had let him lead her to the bar, the empty beer hall seeming odd at times like this, without the laughter and revelry that often at least brightened the background.

"We found her, at the morgue, the ghoul is dormant again and Lauren is keeping her comfortable." Bo tried to fill in the information she didn't think the older man would have heard by now.

"Oh Bo, that is good, good news." The old fae seemed genuinely pleased to hear this as he reached out and patted the back of her hand, at the same time breathing out a of breath of relief.

"Where have you been?" Bo smiled back softly at the gesture.

"Been?" Trick tried a show of mock surprise and innocence.

"Trick, Hale already said you had gone somewhere to find out information." Bo tilted her head to give him a look of gentle warning. "Did you find out anything of use?"

"I don't know yet." He replied turning to pick up two tumblers which he filled with ice cubes. "I'm hoping so." He added as he came back to put them on the bar top. "It's complicated."

"Is there anything fae that isn't complicated?" Bo asked honestly and then frowned. "I went to see the Norn."

"What? Why? Bo, what have you done?" Trick's face instantly crumbled into an almost dangerous scowl.

"Just talked to her, listened to her gloat for awhile, heard a version of how my life is going to end lonely and broken but don't worry I didn't fall for any of her let's make a deal tactics." Bo tried to alleviate his worry immediately. "She didn't give me anything helpful."

"Did you really expect her to?" Trick's look changed to one of soft admonishment.

"No, but I needed to see this Norn and her tree." Bo admitted part of what she had to be honest was her instinctual need to go there. To put a face, a scene to all of the trauma the ancient being had caused. "So do I have any chance of you explaining about this complication?"

"I spent the time you were looking for Kenzi talking to The Morrigan." Trick revealed as he poured them both a stiff drink.

"The Morrigan? Oh let me guess the dark side sometimes deals with ghouls?" Bo tried to make the leap as to why he'd have gone there of all places.

"They have, in the past." Trick gave a soft shrug but shook his head to that being his main point. "The problem Bo is that what I have to tell you, you will not..." He paused. "Fully understand."

"Up to a few hours ago I didn't understand that the black plague was caused by ghouls not fleas, or that there was some place called the in between where horrible entities lurk in wait to be pulled into our world to cause suffering." Bo tried to show him that it had been a big day for expanding her mental horizons. "I'm willing to try to understand anything right now if it might help Kenzi."

"There are Fae called Druids." Trick began, obviously trying to find a starting point for all of this. "Fae specially gifted in ways of spirit, of magicks."

"Did they build Stonehenge?" Bo checked knowing she'd heard of the concept of a druid before now.

"Bo, please." Trick glanced at her trying to plead silently for her not to complicate this. "Druids, like all fae choose their side, light or dark, but more than that, they choose their path."

"What do you mean? Shouldn't a druid be a druid?" Bo questioned trying to focus.

"Technically a druid is a druid, but that would be like calling a brain surgeon a doctor." The Blood King tried to explain. "There are very specific talents that a Druid can channel, choices they make that form what they become. It is druids who become Necromancers."

"So the guy who caused all these problems by making ghouls in the first place was a druid?" Bo followed along tentatively.

"Exactly, which is why when I was King, I wrote a law ordering the pursuit and execution of all necromancers for the good of all fae and human kind." He looked down briefly.

"If they were like this Hackrel guy I think it might have been warranted." Bo shrugged accepting from what even she knew about the idea of necromancers that they weren't beneficial to society. How could raising skeleton armies, ghouls and zombies ever be helpful?

Trick opened his mouth as if to begin talking again but then stopped and instead sighed and took a long drink.

"What am I not getting about this?" Bo appraised him, noting how carefully he was choosing his words and yet how uncomfortable he felt about the topic.

"What you're not getting my darling granddaughter, my dearest Isabeau..." He patted her hand and frowned as he stepped away from her. "Was that the wording of my execution order was not that necromancers be struck from our shores, but that the waters of our lands run red with the blood of the Harvesters."

"Harvesters?" Bo instantly didn't understand what he was trying to say but his choice of metaphors made her very uncomfortable. "What is a harvester?"

"Every necromancer must be a Harvester." Trick replied still turned away from her. "A druid who has chosen that path. Necromancy is not a Druidic path Bo, it is a perversion some turn to for greed usually, or power, the path that leads to it, is Harvestry. I ordered the death of every Harvester... thousands of fae."

The fact that the bar was empty didn't change the fact that for Bo the silence that came with the ending of his words was deafening as her mind raced with outrage and angry questions.

"You ordered the extermination of a race of fae just because there might, might be some of them that chose to be necromancers?" Bo levelled the hard question at him.

"I had to make choices for the good of everyone." Trick finally turned back around to face her words.

"These other Harvesters, what were their powers?" Bo gripped the edge of the bar with both her hands to steady herself.

"That doesn't matter." Trick shook his head somewhat dismissively.

"Yes, it does Trick. It's like saying we should kill everyone who ever commits a crime because it means they might be a serial killer. A guy who gets a lot of speeding tickets shouldn't die because there was a Jeffrey Dalmer." Bo put forward her own reason.

"I did not start this to open up a discussion on my choices as King." Trick said defensively.

"Fine, then tell me what Necromancers and Harvesters have to do with Kenzi. Other than the obvious Hackrel link." Bo pushed him, her mouth pulled into a tight line and her question caused the Blood King to simmer again, his head lowering.

"Only a Harvester is capable of stripping the ghoul out of Kenzi's body." He replied solemnly.

Bo's face showed her instant guttural reaction to his words. Words that in one second brought a glimmer of hope but in the same moment slapped it away from her.

"You're trying to tell me the only fae who could help Kenzi were all wiped out, by your order, hundreds of years ago?" Bo's voice was so tight it almost squeaked with tension.

"Bo, you have to understand..." Trick made a step towards her. "The plagues spread by the Ghouls that the necromancers controlled were responsible for wiping out up to a third of the human population in some communities. One in three people Bo, wasted away and died from simple exposure through nothing more than an open wound, physical contact with infected flesh. Then hundreds of fae began dying of starvation Bo."

"And you had to protect yourselves." Bo's words could have been ones of acceptance to the futility of the situation, but the tone of them showed she had fallen more to disappointment and disgust.

"It was a decision I was pressed to, not one I jumped to lightly." He stressed this to her. "To just remove each necromancer solved nothing, I had to remove the whole strain. Books were burned, teachings shredded and buried."

Trying to order her thoughts Bo took a step back from the bar. All her mind could think of was history lessons she'd learned about the second world war, and how when Hitler had undertaken to exterminate a race of people they called it the Holocaust. But here was her grandfather trying to justify a similar action within the structure of the fae.

"Right now, all I really want to care about is Kenzi." She tried to refocus her mind, noting everything that she was thinking about this 'cull' into the back of her mind to be added to the discuss later pile. "Why exactly did you go to the Morrigan?"

"To see if my orders had failed." Trick admitted his voice tired, the day having taken its toll on him.

"I hope to God they did." Bo's eyes flared open at the idea that maybe some of these harvesters had survived, and that maybe one of them could save Kenzi.

"Bo please, I need to explain..." Trick looked over at Bo who was already retreating towards the Dal's entrance.

"Yes you do, you really do." Bo confirmed with a nod, "But right now I have other things to do." She cut him off with a shake of her head.

-x-

Still running on full adrenalin, Bo literally cut through everyone on her way from the car park at the compound to the lab, only slowing down when it was necessary to do so to enter the step down room before Kenzi's quarantine zone. The succubus' head hurt, ringing with the information and bomb-shell from her grandfather, and key phrases and words that the Norn and poked at her that echoed and poked at her subconscious. She knew she needed to find a focus, to lessen the noise in her head, and the only way to do that was to be here.

Confidently Bo went up to the large safety glass panel dividing the two areas and knocked on it hard. Instantly inside Lauren's head came up from where it had been bent down over a clip board of results. Bo lifted her hand revealing Mr Kickers held in it and pressed him to the glass with a soft smile. With a almost perceptible nod the blonde signed off on the clipboard and moved to join Bo in the small room.

"You're safe." The relief was obvious in both Lauren's voice and face as the door closed behind her and she stepped up close to the succubus.

"I'm safe but... where can we talk in private?" Bo wanted to get caught up in the obvious moment of relief but needed to focus her mind more and to do that she needed answers.

"Well there's my old office, Hale has given me full use of it, but Bo there's nothing I can't talk to you about here." Lauren frowned a little as she shook her head. "I've got some of her early blood work results, I'll get as scientific as you like about them." Her frown melted when her soft brown eyes landed on the kangaroo in Bo's hand again, "She's showing some signs of coming around, you should suit up and bring Mr Kickers to his holiday home."

"I will." Bo looked down at the stuffed toy in her own hand and nodded but then shook her head, "But i need to talk to you first." She stepped a little closer to her lover. "Back in the apartment, before Dyson and I got there, did something happen, did Kenzi hurt you in any way, injure you?" Bo pushed recalling the Norn's references Lauren.

"What?" Lauren was derailed by Bo's line of questioning, her mind obviously filled with Kenzi's care and the chaos surrounding that. "I don't..." She began trying hard to think back to the event that in some ways seemed so long ago. "Not in an aggressive way Bo..."

"I sorry..." Bo shook her own head and turned away from Lauren forcing the air out of her lungs in a long breath as she took a few steps away, "I'm over analyzing everything everyone is saying I know I am it's just that when I saw the Norn. Who by the way you are never, ever going to have the displeasure of meeting, made snide references to you being a doctor, about injuries and your health." She pushed the heel of her hand to her forehead. "God I hate the fact that no fae ever just tells it like it is, it's always riddles and puzzles, half truths and out right lies." She huffed out her breath again and then turned slowly back to look at her lover with sad tired eyes. "This is where you tell me I'm over reacting and you give me reassurance packed with scientific babble and I feel better by just looking at you." The trace of a smile pulled at the corners of Bo's mouth as she spoke.

"Though I don't know for certain, as there hasn't been a case like this in a long time," Lauren began as she walked closer to Bo, her voice low and soft, "I would logically assume that as the ghoul manifestation isn't complete the strengths of any contagions or toxins carried within and by it are not complete either." She reasoned out. "Which means, that although unlike you and Dyson for example who because of your fae nature are immune to anything Septima could carry, as a medical professional it is my opinion, that unless directly in contact with any of the former mentioned unknown pathogens, I am safe." She offered with a soft shrug.

"Direct contact." Bo questioned asking for clarity on the point.

"A bite, saliva has a high transfer rate," Lauren nodded, "Infected blood in any existing wounds, scratches ..." The blonde's voice stopped. Almost the same instant Bo's brown eyes flicked up to look at her.

"Take your shirt off." Bo demanded instantly, gone was all trace of hesitation and confusion from her voice.

"Pull the curtain across." Lauren nodded to the heavy curtain at the front window as she moved to close the vertical blind on the intersecting wall. When the room was private Lauren shrugged off the heavy protective gear leaving her in just a pair of basic blue scrubs, which she eased the top of off somewhat awkwardly, having not noticed before, but now seeing that rotating her shoulder caused her pain. As she tossed the top on one of the blue plastic chairs, both of them noticed the dried blood on the sleeve.

The succubus was by Lauren's side in an instant, for once not distracted by the fact that the blonde was topless, instead all over her focus on the four long scratches over Lauren's shoulder. The wounds were bright red and angry, the skin around the dotted with clotted blood.

"Lauren." Bo's voice was soft as she urged the blonde to stay still by putting her hand on the blonde's naked side, as she got a closer look at the wounds.

It was quite clear from the look on Lauren's face that she really wasn't sure how to process this latest revelation. She kept still in the gentle hold for a moment and then twisted away, moving to one of the small upper cupboard, reaching with her 'good' arm to get a clean top.

"Right." She blinked, "I'll...I'll get one of my team to clean this and...and take swabs to see if there is anything traceable on them" She moved and put the top down on the side, "And I'll need blood work, yes blood work." She began looking for a sheet of paper in short shelves filled with different coloured sheets.

"Lauren." Bo didn't follow her but did repeat her name. "Can we please just stop for a minute?"

"We can." Lauren did indeed pause and slowly turn around.

"You have to promise me you will not ignore those." Bo moved closer

"Did the plan I just outlined suggest ignoring them?" Lauren's brow furrowed a little as if Bo were suddenly some kind of medical professor challenging her new thesis.

"I'm not talking to Doctor Lewis..." Bo shook her head. "Just like sometimes you make sure you're not talking to succubus me, I'm talking to my lover." She gave the blonde a soft smile as she reached out and touched her cheek. "Other people are working on the Kenzi thing as well as you right now, Trick is trying to find an ancient type of fae who apparently can help so you can take a moment to work with me and focus on you."

"An ancient type of fae?" Lauren blinked at the brunette instantly distracted.

"Have you ever heard of harvesters?" Bo let herself be led away from her purpose knowing in the end the short distraction was going to give Lauren less to be distracted about.

"No." Lauren shook her head honestly, the term not at all familiar.

"Okay long story cut uber short, apparently they are a school of Druidic fae, but unfortunately for them it is the school of magic that leads to necromancy and in a bid to cut down on things like Septima in the first place part of the new laws was that a cull of all harvesters was ordered by both the light and the dark." Bo began to give the quick explanation.

"An entire branch of druidism, culled?" Lauren spoke the last word in a whisper, "That's..." She paused. "Inconceivable."

"No matter how inconceivable it is, apparently its fae history, it happened." Bo frowned knowing Lauren was sharing her initial sense of shock. "And now we need one, a harvester that is, to help Kenzi."

"Historically speaking Bo culls are notoriously bad for not actually working." Lauren gave her lover a soft smile. "Humanity, at any rate, tend to only send a species into extinction accidentally."

"Then I think if anyone has a good chance of finding one it is Trick, which brings me back to you." Bo took a slow breath. "I know you are doing everything for Kenzi, have done more than I will ever understand even if I study that clipboard of yours for days but now I need you to turn some of your brilliance onto helping yourself." She reached down taking one of Lauren's hands in hers. "Please."

"I will." Lauren first looked down at their hands and then at Bo's eyes. "I do need someone to clean them and get some swabs taken, like I said." She admitted, "I'd ask you if it didn't need to be so 'medical'." She added giving Bo's hand a gentle squeeze. "Go see Kenzi, She should be awake soon, probably within the next thirty minutes. She's going to be disoriented and scared, in pain and everything else sick Kenzi can be."

"Mr. Kickers will help her calm down." Bo smiled knowing in her heart that the little kangaroo had turned into so much more than just a stuffed animal.

"Change into scrubs before you go in, you don't have to suit up, you're fae, we just have to keep you from carrying anything back out." Lauren explained the quarantine procedure with a soft smile.

Bo nodded and then moved to pick up the clean top that Lauren had gotten for herself and carried it over to the blonde.

"Pathogens not at full strength right?" Bo offered as she offered the top with a soft smile.

"Working hypothesis." Lauren nodded with a brave smile as she reached out and took it.

-x-


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimers: All original property is owned by Showcase, and we do not infer that any characters, creations or the concept of 'Lost Girl' are our property and the following fan fiction has been written purely for entertainment purposes only.

Pairings: Bo/Lauren Set directly after our story "Faeral", the third story in an AU plot line.

Rating: M (Contains scenes of violence, sexuality and nudity)

**Faery Tale: Chapter Nineteen**

By: The Rainbowwriters

From her perch next to the large hospital bed, Bo had figured out that Kenzi was coming too a lot sooner than Kenzi had probably really knew much of anything. The succubus pushed her way up beside the small figure on the bed and began stroking her cheek softly, knowing most of the rest of her was bandaged.

"Take it slow Kenzi, you won't be able to move but it's okay... it's just bandages." Bo urged her over and over, addressing one of the first issues she knew would become clear for her best friend. Confinement was one of Kenzi's top five things she couldn't stand, admitting to Bo that the idea of being unable to even fight because she was tied down or in a box did something to her mentally that scared her. So being bandaged into place as she was, Bo feared that the state could totally overwhelm Kenzi before she'd even really come awake. "And there are lots of good Lauren drugs for the pain once you wake up and talk to me for a bit."

"Bo?" Kenzi didn't open her eyes, her voice dry and croaky as it said her best friend's name.

"Right here, right here." Bo made sure her voice was loud and clear in order to make her best friend's recognition easier. "You just take it slow."

Finally pale blue eyes fluttered a little and opened, only to be squeezed shut again the next moment.

"Too bright." She whined, crunching her head down as it was the only movement she could make.

"Let me get that." Bo leaned to push various buttons on a nearby controller and the lights dimmed down to a manageable glare. "Take it slow."

Kenzi very slowly opened her eyes for her second attempt, keeping them squinted she turned her head slightly to look at Bo.

"What happened to me?" She croaked out. "Was it a truck? It feels like a truck."

"Let's just say it was bigger than you." Bo leaned down and kissed her cheek. "You scared the hell out of me, don't do that again." The fear that showed in her whisper underlined how serious things were to Kenzi even if her best friend's clear worry gave her no real information.

"Can safely say it wasn't deliberate." Kenzi attempted a brave smile. "I'm guessing this isn't just a regular hospital."

"It's Lauren's lab, she's looking after you Kenz, she's making sure you're going to be just fine." Bo assured her, seeing how blue eyes were now focusing in on her better and tracking slowly over her face. "And that new Ash you're friends with is pulling out all the stops for the Ambassador."

"We should get a second opinion, I don't feel fine." The younger woman groaned closing her eyes again, unable to hide how she abused she was feeling.

"I know you are feeling stuff you can't explain and that you've never felt before but I want you to remember, no matter how weird it gets, or scary, I am not going to let anything happen to you." Bo vowed to her wanting Kenzi to be empowered with the message.

"Where was I when you found me?" Kenzi opened her eyes a little more, her brain clearing enough to want some basic facts to clarify her jagged memory. "Yes, I remember you finding me." She underlined the admittance. "Where there was and how I got there, not so clear on... you finding me, saving me I remember."

"Right now all that matters is I found you, I will always find you. " Bo's eyes were there to meet her's with a loving confidence. "Now all I need you to focus on is resting and letting yourself heal."

"If I'm so safe can I go home?" Kenzi pouted slightly.

"Nice try." Bo smiled at her. "What's wrong with you is still being worked on Kenz." She was honest with a small amount of information. "That's why I need you to just rest."

"In here? How am I supposed to do that?" Kenzi's voice was now a croaky whine.

"By just laying there and letting Lauren do what she's the best at." Bo assured her there was no other option.

"Are you sleeping right here?" Kenzi checked giving Bo the indication it wasn't negotiable if she was expected to co-operate.

"I'm going to be right here whenever I can be, you know me I get more cagey than you do." Bo put her hand down to interlace her fingers into Kenzi's wrapped hand.

"Hey don't be distracting my doctor, she needs to keep her focus on the important things right now." Kenzi bravely teased, though she hadn't been able to hide the wince the overwhelmed her face when her fingers were squeezed.

"I promise to be a good girl until she's done all her work." Bo was glad to hear the younger woman making even the off colour joke, it meant Kenzi was still fighting in whatever ways she could in there.

"Bo." Kenzi's eyes dipped closed again, her voice losing a lot of its strength. "You and Lauren, you can make it." She swallowed obviously painfully, suddenly overtaken by a wave of intense dizziness. Bo would never have seen the changes, but the monitors around Kenzi began to show the dip in her vitals.

"Of course we can, with you living in our basement." Bo reminded her, feeling her throat choke close with emotions. After all Kenzi was in a fight for her life right now, and Bo felt nearly helpless. "You're going to be fine Kenzi, I know it feels bad right now but its not as bad as all this seems. It's just necessary."

"It's been a good ride eh Bo-Bo?" Weaker still, Kenzi made a soft attempt to smile.

"Don't you dare give up, don't you dare." Bo leaned more over her, looking to the monitors that had begun to beep loudly as her heart rate slowed. "Kenzi... Lauren?" She yelled out towards the observers on the other sides of the glass, seeing a mass of movement already going on outside of the quarantined room.

-x-

The controlled panic that erupted when Bo had called for help took a little over an hour to fully come back to a calm. All things considered, Kenzi had been stabilized with expert speed by Lauren, who had been already half dressed in the step down room. Bo had found her feet taking her backwards as she got out of a technician's way, and she only stopped when she found herself in a corner of the room out of everyone's way.

Purposely lowering some of the medications keeping Kenzi unconscious, Dr. Lewis was aware that while it was necessary the choice also came with some risks. Her young patient's body had undergone so much overall damage that it was quite possible that she could go into stress induced shock as her mind tried to come to terms with what she felt.

Of course the doctor had been ready for this, all of the necessary medications were already loaded in syringes ready to be administered and her team already prepped with a plan of attack. Kenzi's brief interaction with Bo had proved the young woman was in control and was lucid, and the doctor was fundamentally pleased with the results. That her patient had needed some intervention, she'd been ready to do a lot more then she had actually had to do, a fact that made her feel that for the moment at least she was on top of things as much as she could be medically.

When everything was calm, Lauren moved to the corner of the room that Bo had retreated to and led the Succubus out of the quarantine room, through all the other rooms associated with it and down a hallway to a nearby 'staff room'. She made the soft request that Bo make them coffee, associating the brunette with a hands on task that would help her lover feel like she was 'doing' something. Lauren retreated to a large couch, having taken the short time by herself to take a few deep breaths before she re-centred her attention on Bo as the brunette arrived with their drinks.

"What just happened in there?" Bo questioned softly, still feeling a little in shock from all that she had witnessed as she sat down on the couch beside the blonde.

"What happened in there is complicated but not something I didn't expect, the only thing you need to know is that she's okay and I think we have the right mix of medications for her right now." Lauren smiled, a slightly tired smile but a smile none the less. "Her body is just a very delicately balanced vessel right now, in typical Kenzi style she pushed herself too hard at the first chance she had. I promise you Bo, I have everything I can monitoring her and maintaining her levels the best I can."

"But..." The succubus began.

"Bo, she's been through, is going through so much, she's doing great." Lauren stressed still maintaining her smile. "I would tell you if I thought things were out of control, if I was really really worried, but right now I'm not." She added, keeping her tone tender. "Kenzi may look so fragile, but she's tougher than she looks, a real fighter. I'm doing the best I can for her, I swear to you Bo."

"I..." Bo took a breath and closed her eyes for a moment, trying to sill her heart and mind to slow down, to calm a little from the extreme alert that it had been forced into. "I know you are." She admitted honestly. "There's no one I trust more with her." She smiled back at her softly. "I just... she's..." Bo glanced over her shoulder towards the corridor. "I don't even need to say any of this to you, I know you get it." The brunette put her coffee down and paced for a moment, wiping her hands on the sides of her thighs. "I get this feeling inside when someone I love is fighting something that I can't help with, it burns." She balled up her fist and held it to her abdomen.

"You need to remember you are helping her Bo." Lauren put her own drink aside and moved to close her hand around the one the succubus held to her body. "Being here with her when you can, that helps her, fighting the part of the battle she can't, that helps her." The blonde stressed. "Right now the fact that you love her, the fact that she knows that it was you that saved her, found her and brought her to me, that helps her." Lauren squeezed Bo's hand tightly. "Never forget that." She urged her lover sincerely.

Bo looked into brown eyes, tears filling her own.

"I love you both so much." She moved to enclose Lauren in her arms, her hand running up and over the blonde's arm and shoulder as she did so, notable catching on the slight bulk of a bandage now covering her arm and shoulder. With a soft curse the succubus pulled away and shook her head, anger, worry and fear flooding her barely clearing eyes once again. "Your arm, I had almost forgotten, shit." She cursed both herself and the situation. "Did you get them looked at, obviously you did." She countered her own statement. "Did you find out?"

"Bo..." Lauren looked down shaking her head. "I'm not sure now is the time to..."

"Did you find anything out." The succubus restated her question, this time her tone a little firmer.

"The lab are rushing the blood that was taken but..." The blonde frowned slightly and moved to sit down on one of the chairs.

"But the ghoul made you sick didn't it?" The succubus wasn't sure how she pushed the words out, even when Lauren had tried to relieve her worries earlier, she had just known inside that the horrible would happen. Immediately she blamed the Norn, now believing the hype about her in the fae world. This seemed like the kind of multilayer assault that only the old crone and her tree could lay on you.

"We don't know yet Bo, not for sure. All I can tell you is that the wounds are showing clinical signs of infection and I'm running a low grade fever." A frown danced on Lauren's brow.

"You've started antibiotics already right? To get a head start on anything it could be." Bo instantly put in, feeling the vague control she had tried to assert on herself slipping.

"I have but Bo please listen, I want to tell you more about what we might be dealing with, so you know in advance, if I can't..." Lauren paused forcing herself to swallow and focus more. "If I can't be the one to explain it to you."

Bo couldn't bare to see the sadness on the blonde's features a wash of cold fear swept over her and then oddly was replaced with a full feeling of numbness that only a pure overload of emotional stress could cause as she realized what Lauren was doing, or trying to do.

"Using cultures from the morgue, I've managed to identify several contagions clearly specific to the ghoul. Which I have cross referenced to periodic records, which of course aren't scientific, but going on symptoms and folk lore it is easy to make logical comparisons." The doctor explained what she had been filling her time with recently while Bo had been otherwise occupied. "I've isolated a very virulent strain of typhoid, thankfully that was one of the easiest to identify from the historic records and cross reference strains in the lab. Followed closely by the cholera strain." It was obvious from the flow of her words that Lauren had managed at least to some extent to slip into 'doctor' mode as she talked about this, however she paused to lick her lips before adding. "Unfortunately the test for Versinia Pestis was also positive."

"What the hell is Versinia Pestis?" Bo had to ask as she moved closer to where Lauren had sat down, trying hard to stop the edges of the room from going dark on her by keeping separate in her mind the idea that these were the ghoul's diseases, and not the things possibly wrong with her lover.

"The plague Bo." Lauren clarified in a soft voice her brown eyes flicking up to look at the succubus briefly. "I don't know yet whether it's pneumonic, bubonic or septicemic, or maybe even more than one."

With the blonde's words the line separating the two ideas in Bo's head disappeared, or rather melted in hot white heat that seemed to flare inside and around her, making her cheeks almost burn as if scorched by a hot wind or direct desert sun.

"You have the plague?" Her voice was barely recognizable even to herself as it pressed out of her constricted throat.

"Bo please..." Lauren pushed up and moved to her lover's side sensing the sudden build of fear, anger and worry in her. "Focus with me." She put her hand on the succubus' arm. "That's what the tests I cultured from the samples showed as contagions that the ghoul carries. Transference to me is not guaranteed." The blonde reached up and physically turned Bo's head to look at her. "You need to understand the difference."

"But you already have a fever." Bo's eyes moved erratically even though she tried to make them focus on Lauren. "Which means..." She pulled away. "Fuck..." She cursed pushing her hand to her head, shaking it over and over. "You're already sick. The ghoul made you sick." There was no stopping the darkness creeping into her vision now. "How do I find a cure? Where do I start looking?" She stopped her movement and looked at Lauren, her eyes wide, her pupils fully dilated.

"Bo..." Lauren had to fight against the fact that her own heart was hammering in her chest, just seeing Bo in this much pain and trauma was hard enough, but to be the one who had to try and keep calm in it all was nearly impossible. "We do need to work on cures but..." She took a slight step towards her lover. "Bo this is bigger than me, there are thousands of people in the city, hundreds of thousands."

"Bigger than you?" Bo looked at her and shook her head. "Bigger than you? Lauren right now this is all about you. Dyson cleaned up the morgue, the city is fine, the only thing we have to think about is you." She shook her head, not willing to focus on anything other than the blonde right now. "You've got Kenzi looked after, now we focus on you."

"It's not quite that simple Bo, I don't know if anyone was exposed while Septima was out in the streets, I have to work on the results I have, on cures." Lauren shook her head more. "What I am doing now to isolate, identify and treat these contagions won't mean anything if it doesn't help people. Do you understand?"

"No." Bo shook her head honestly. "That is yes I understand what you just said but I don't understand why it has to hurt you. I'm already watching this hurt Kenzi, isn't that enough?" She asked shaking her head more.

"It is and I wish..." For the first time in the conversation Lauren seemed to falter. "Bo, I need you to know that though unbelievably hard at times, the last few years, the ones with you in them, have been..." She moved the short distance between them and put her hand on Bo's cheek. "I love you." She summed up with a loving smile watching as Bo's eye's closed, the touching seeming to bring a moment of calm to the succubus, despite the intense situation.

"What happens now?" The brunette asked in a whisper.

"I have to go into isolation while test results are processed and answers are found." Lauren smiled softly again as she pulled her hand back and just looked at Bo. "Where I can still work on everything, but I won't be free to just check on anything, on what is being done to help the human population of the city, on what treatment methods are being implemented if there is a full scale outbreak, any of it." Lauren paused as she realized she was about to admit something to the succubus that she hadn't even really admitted to herself. "I'm not saying I don't trust Hale or the members of the team, but they are fae they don't have the same priorities as you or I might." She tried to make her see what she was really trying to stress to her. "I'm trying hard to get them to understand I can still work on things, but once the test results come back I will be put into my own treatment room and quarantined. I need you to stay strong for Kenzi, keep an eye on her from close by because I won't be able too."

Everything that Lauren was telling her made Bo's mind stop and actually have to order its thoughts so that she could come up with a reaction. After all, not only was Septima overtaking her best friend's body, the damn ghoul had infected Lauren and who knows what. Add to that the covert threat that the fae were going to do what the fae always did, cover their asses and think about the humans as an afterthought, and she was starting to run out of room in her brain to deal with all of this. Taking a slightly staggered breath Bo did her best to reign in everything she felt and be the strong one in the room.

"I'll do anything you want me too." She promised softly. "But I need to do something for you." She added her as she tried to think outside the bubble as it were, though is was hard to think at all if she was honest. "The Abath horn." She suddenly came up with out of the far reaches of her brain. The one Trick got for Kenzi when she had the hemorrhagic fever. Would it help you fight off these illnesses longer?"

Lauren blinked a little the suggestion having come so far out of left field.

"In theory... yes." She said as she actually processed the idea. "But I can't ask Trick to part with something like an Abath horn, he may have already traded it on after he used it with Kenzi, you don't know how rare and precious they are Bo." She admitted the reality of such a rare artifact, not to mention the 'disagreement' it would cause between Trick and his granddaughter if for some reason he refused.

"I'll just ask him." Bo shook her head, not even thinking that there would be any reason Trick would deny her such a simple thing if he had it. "In the meantime you're going to let them do what is best for you so that all these fae you've trained can finally prove they were listening all the times you gave them hell for not dotting an 'i' or crossing a 't'." She took both of Lauren's hands. "And I am not losing you or Kenzi, or having a plague run through the humans in the city. I don't know how exactly yet, but we're going to stop all of this."

Lauren leaned forward, pressing her body into Bo's, sliding her arms around the Succubus' body to hold tight. She knew right now that even though the world's problems were stacked against them, she had to believe in the one thing she knew was the truth... she loved Bo, and if anyone could fix all of this ghoulish chaos it was the succubus.

-x-


	20. Chapter 20

Disclaimers: All original property is owned by Showcase, and we do not infer that any characters, creations or the concept of 'Lost Girl' are our property and the following fan fiction has been written purely for entertainment purposes only.

Pairings: Bo/Lauren Set directly after our story "Faeral", the third story in an AU plot line.

Rating: M (Contains scenes of violence, sexuality and nudity)

**Faery Tale: Chapter Twenty**

By: The Rainbowwriters

The first thing that struck Bo as odd was that the porch light to the Dal was not glowing its usual yellow colour. It was glowing an odd pale white, almost as if the electric filament within had been replaced by a glowing ember that danced and changed. The beam of illumination it cast lighting up far more of the alley then usual, the effect actually climbing up the high brick walls on either side to even make the fire escape platforms overhead to be visible.

Pulling open the door, the next odd thing that struck her was that the bar inside was shrouded in near darkness. There were only a scattering of white pillar candles lining the alcoves of the room, leaving the centre of the bar the darkest point.

"Trick?" She called out immediately, her hand going to her dagger as she began to fear that the out of place decor was a sign of something more sinister going on.

"Everything is fine Bo, nothing is amiss." Trick's voice came clearly from the bar, it was even and calm as he stood up to be seen. "If you wouldn't mind making sure the door is closed, it saves me tremendous work if I don't have to run around re-lighting candles all the time." He tried to make a joke of the literal fact.

Bo turned to do as he had asked before she moved in towards the bar, her eyes slowly adjusting to the candlelight.

"I've figured out you rarely do something so difficult without reason." She asked the hidden question about what was going on, trying to almost guide her into explaining.

"No, I do not." Trick nodded to his granddaughter's accurate appraisal of him. "I'm doing all of this in the hopes that a visitor will arrive, it is all part of creating a Nemeton." He saw the blank look on her face and smiled softly. "If you had grown up among the fae you would know that when you create a Nemeton, you create a sacred space in order for a parley to occur."

"But I thought the bar was a way station and they were neutral territory." Bo moved up closer to the bar and took a long moment to look over a cast iron cooking pot that sat on the wooden top, the mixture inside bubbling away despite no obvious heat source. She also assessed that Kenzi would say it smelled 'funky', and she had to agree.

"It is neutral, but a Nemeton creates a space of peace." Trick continued to try and explain. "Usually it is called when more then just sides or clan issues are involved, it is also called when you want the person you are calling to know that you are opening your doors to them in peace."

"Is it a problem that I'm here?" Bo looked back at the door, almost swearing that she could suddenly hear a wind whirling somewhere in the distance.

"Not at all, I would say I wasn't even sure anyone would be coming but I think I have my answer on that count." Trick suddenly seemed nervous, a state so alien for him, or at least for Bo to see him in, it made the succubus wonder exactly what was going on. Hurriedly he took a ladle full of the dark green soup that was in the pot and put in in a wide flat looking bowl he had waiting nearby. The offering vessel, which looked more than anything like an over sized dog bowl, was filled with the second spoonful and Trick moved with surprising speed to put it down on the floor near the entrance to the Dal.

"Are you suddenly allowing pets in the Dal Riata?" Bo watched his movements with intense curiosity as the noise of the wind actually started to grow to such a background din that to not comment on it seemed stranger. "What is that noise?" She found herself having to work to be heard over it.

"The North Wind." Trick replied stepping back from where he had placed the bowl, putting his hand on Bo's arm he guided her back towards the bar, just before the doors to the Dal were flung open by the roaring tempest of wind.

The ground seemed to shake a little, as with slow deliberate moves, any and all of the back light that had come in from the street when the doors flew open was blocked. The light was obstructed by a hulking figure that Bo could easily tell from both its gate and the number of rhythmic thuds on the wooden floor of the bar, had four feet.

Slowly something that looked like a monstrous sized dog became visible in the dim light, it had strange green glowing eyes and stood at least as tall as the tallest Great Dane Bo had ever seen, but with the bulk of a rhino. In was as it paused in the main area in the full illumination of the candles that Bo noted it had no fur, its skin was leathery and a deep red colour, its ears were pinned up like a dobermans, and they twitched and turned in response to every sound. Seeming more alert than its eyes, that just seemed to glow almost motionless.

"What the freaking hell is that?" Bo hissed taking a very furtive glance sideways at her grandfather, though she had the sense not to actually move.

"That is a barghest, a trained barghest. It will do anything, including sacrifice itself, to preserve its master. So please don't make any sudden movements Bo." Trick's voice held only the tiniest trace of stress, mostly to try and alert her to his unspoken request to please for once take her cues from him. "And please do not address the creature." He clarified softly.

"Do I look stupid to you?" Bo replied indignantly, watching as the huge animal sniffed the air over and over before tilting its head back slightly and letting out the loudest, deepest howl that the succubus had ever heard. It lasted just a moment and then the creature began to advance towards Bo and Trick. "Okay now I'm beginning to think stupid thoughts." She planted her feet a little firmer, her hand sliding down her form slightly to hover nearer her dagger hilt.

"Isabeau, lower your hand, its master is our guest, he means us no harm as long as we mean none in turn." Trick's voice took on a rare directly authoritative tone, the one that surely struck Bo as his Blood King voice. But though his tone was absolute in its direction, it wasn't angry but merely insistent that she please do as he asked and trust him.

Bo flexed her hand and then brought both arms to fold across her chest keeping her stance angry and protective as the animal came closer and then flopped to the ground directly blocking Trick and Bo's access to the door.

The succubus had been so caught up in the arrival of the barghest that she had realized that the howling wind had stopped. That was until it started again, softer this time, in fact compared to what it had been before, this new wind was a summer breeze that pressed in through the open doors of the Dal bringing with it a swirl of fall leaves, pine needles and other forest floor litter.

The delicate flames from the pillar candles around the bar began to flutter and dance, and then in the next instant the Dal was in darkness. The smell of extinguished wicks heavy in the air, the only light source the glowing green eyes of the barghest, that were turned once again towards Bo and Trick, obviously watching for their reaction to the change.

"And so comes the call that my kind has awaited for centuries." A haunting voice filled the Dal Riata, punctuated at the end by the sound of the doors closing, and the heavy old lock sliding into place. "The call of The Blood King."

A new light was then added to the room, two more 'eyes' Bo guessed. These were red, glowing but only slightly, more burning in the darkness, like the coals of a dying fire. As Bo's eyes adjusted to the dim light, a figure started to build itself around the eyes, which hung in the air in a way to suggest the owner was at least seven feet tall.

"My guest since I have made no mistrust about who I am or that you are invited into my way station under the white light of Nemeton, may I please know to whom it is that has answered my call." Trick's voice seemed almost timid in a way that could have been by design, but it was a tone that Bo had never heard before.

"You called for a Highbourne, you got a Highbourne." The voice replied curtly. "What is it the old ones say Blood King, be careful what you wish for."

Bo instantly tensed beside Trick again, her hand slipping from across her chest back to her thigh. Instantly a low growl came from the huge beast laid between her and the figure in the darkness, and a low laugh filled the Dal Riata.

"Your temper is hereditary I see." The stranger made the comment, apparently amused by Bo's posturing.

"You see much I am sure." Trick acknowledged glancing at Bo, feeling the weight of whatever hand fate had played to put his granddaughter so unavoidably in the middle of this meeting. "Her name is Bo, she is unaligned and knows nothing of the old ways."

"Convenient." Suddenly all the candles around the way station lit themselves again simultaneously, filling the place with a warm almost earthy light. Revealing, or rather not revealing the figure in any more detail than they already had been in the darkness.

The stranger's entire body was covered in a heavy hooded cloak, that masked any trace of body shape or detail. Covered in dark brown owl feathers, interwoven with strips of animal fur and tree bark the covering could have offered unbeatable camouflage in most rural situations. The one piece cloak's built in hood was deliberately constructed to hide any differentiation between body and head, making it impossible to know where one thing finished and the other began. The deep cove that the hood provided masked any facial features, other than the burning red eyes.

"Actually not really, not knowing what I was, what a Fae was, how to control my powers, not so convenient as you think." Bo was by this point so frayed by the killer demon dog at her feet and the strange hurricane magician who wouldn't say what their name was, that Trick's warnings to hold her tongue were long lost on her.

"Another questionable choice it seems Blood King, or was this not yours to choose this time?" At no time did the stranger's tone change, nor did the eyes shift in focus, seeming to look at both of them at the same time somehow. "No matter." They seemed to shrug aside the issue and there was movement under the cloak. Small hands appears out of a seam to unfasten the garment somewhere near what might be the stranger's throat and in the next moment, the cloak fell to pool on the floor.

The change in what Bo was now looking at once the cloak had dropped away, was dramatic to say the least. What had been a seven foot tall imposing figure, somehow turned the next instant into a woman who was barely five feet, with a similar body mass and shape to Kenzi. So much so that Bo literally rubbed her hand across her eyes to double check she wasn't imagining what had just happened.

"It is a wind shroud, not just a cloak." The stranger turned to look more at Bo, appraising her surprise and disbelief. "My goodness you are..." She paused a very strange look coming over her face, culminating in a hard frown, as if what she was about to say truly displeased her. "Innocent." She took a breath and reached up behind the back of her head pulling out some soft of clip to release a literal wave of russet brown hair that fell to beyond her waist. Still focusing on Bo, she stepped forward closer to the reclined barghest. Her slender body was encased in a painted on taupe coloured suede body suit, leaving nothing to the imagination in relation to her curves and feminine highlights. Around her neck she wore a necklace of feathers and bones, the beak of a bird of prey hanging from it like a pendant in the centre. "My name is Thistle Highbourne, Isabeau." The other woman deliberately used a name that the bar keep hadn't given to show what she did and didn't know. "I would greet you as one should greet the granddaughter of a King, if I had any respect for him as a king."

"Thistle Highbourne..." Trick's voice cut the silence a second later, but it was not to admonish her for not recognizing his title, but in complete shock of the name she had used, and indeed of the figure that stood in front of him as he studied her. Clearly the woman was a little older now then the last time Trick had seen her, but still a face he would have recognized anywhere. A face, he had once been convinced was dead, her severed head presented to him as proof of her demise in order to collect the bounty put specifically on her. "Is dead." He seemed to struggle with the two conflicting facts, almost trying to convince himself somehow this fae must be a child of the Thistle he knew. At the same time however, the guest in his bar looked the same as the woman he'd known, just changed as one should be by age.

"If I am dead, then so is whoever you brought me here to save." The other fae countered turning to look at him, her eyes narrowing slightly as she did. At her feet the barghest pushing itself up a little, a low growl beginning in its throat as it too turned its head to look at Trick, sensing the change in its mistress' temper.

"I apologize... I am just in shock." Trick put up his hand, trying to call for a moment of thought. "I should have known if any could have survived, it would be you." He levelled his eyes to meet hers again. "And I have called you for the reason I put on my message, it is a human friend of my granddaughter's that your services are needed for."

"What is wrong with your friend?" Thistle turned her attention back to Bo, her red eyes going back to full and open as she looked at the succubus, seeming to search her body and face for a full response, not just her words.

"She is possessed by a ghoul, one that calls itself Septima. I need you to take the ghoul out of her so Kenzi will be okay, I can't lose her, she's my best friend." Bo felt the way she was almost being analyzed, every fibre of Thistle searched for truth, dishonesty, hidden agendas and then truth again. The waif like woman before her seemed to take a moment to process Bo's words and then turned once again to squint at Trick.

"You haven't dealt with this already?" Her voice dropped low.

"Killing Kenzi is not an option." Bo's voice held her normal level of blatant warning, totally in disregard for the powerful fae standing on the other side of the bar.

"For you and I maybe, but I was speaking to The Blood King." Thistle didn't address the succubus. "Death is something he is more... familiar with than most." She chose her words carefully as she looked at him, her nostrils flaring slightly.

"Kenzi is under my granddaughter's protection." Trick tried to explain himself without addressing the insult.

"So?" Thistle blinked at him.

"I could not bare to see her heart broken." The bartender made the admission in a small voice, clearly feeling as if he had lost a great battle of the minds in having to speak the truth.

"Okay look..." Bo interrupted the humiliation fest or whatever was going on between Thistle and her grandfather right now. "Let's get real and forget Kenzi for a second." She looked at Thistle. "This is bigger than just her." She relaxed her stance. "You're old, you know that. A ghoul means plagues, and plagues mean dead humans, lots of them." She tried to introduce another reason for Thistle's compliance.

"And I care about humans dying because?" Thistle blinked at her. "I'm fae." She pointed out flatly. "Surely you've worked that out about the fae already."

"Bo..." Trick's voice was filled with warning as he watched tension flood his granddaughter's body.

"I've worked out that much can be true, but that's why I'm unaligned. The humans mean something to me, and to a lot of other fae who just haven't had the chance to recognize it." Bo wished the bar wasn't boxing her in as naturally she would have walked closer to Thistle. "Humans don't deserve to have a plague dropped on their heads because a creature they don't even understand has taken over my best friend and invaded the city. You, from what I understand, are the only fae that can take this ghoul out of Kenzi, which is exactly what I need you to do... please." She added the last word awkwardly.

For a long moment the new arrival looked at Bo, again seeming to read over and through Bo in every way. The almost physical reading made the succubus have to recenter herself in order to not react badly to it.

"I make no promises, and I take no responsibility for what happens." Thistle put forward her absolute offer. "Bring her here, to me within the hour and I will see what can be done."

"Thank you." Bo let out the breath she'd been holding genuinely thankful that the imposing fae had listened to what she was trying to say. Of course, her problem now as finding a way to safely get Kenzi back to the Dal.

-x-

On Bo's arrival back at the compound, any hope that she had still been holding onto that Lauren's tests would come back negative were instantly dashed. Her first enquiry to a technician on where the Doctor was, had been met by a frown and shuddered explanation that she was in quarantine suite two.

Everything that Lauren had warned her about had happened in Bo's absence and by the time she'd made her way to suite two and in through the levels of security, she was desperate to be in the same space as the blonde.

Lauren was sitting cross legged on the large hospital bed going over reports on her tablet regardless of the IV that ran into her arm.

"Aren't you supposed to be resting? At least faking that you're resting?" Bo admonished her playfully as she pushed into the interior room, glad for once that being fae meant she didn't have to worry about contamination. Not that she thought it would be very high on her list of worries if it was.

"I'm in bed." Lauren countered looking up with a slim smile, as the Succubus came up and sat on the edge of the bed. "There is still so much that needs doing." She pointed out as she put her tablet on the tray to the side.

"I know." Bo began cryptically as she reached out to put her hand on Lauren's leg. "I have to bring Kenzi to the Dal, Trick found a harvester." She tried to give the basic information that would make the first part of her statement make sense.

"The Dal? Bo, are you... you can't move her." Lauren blinked at the succubus shaking her head, a thousand reasons filling her thoughts as to what moving Kenzi would do to the young woman.

"I know but I have to get her to the Dal within the next hour or this harvester is liable to just float back out of the city." Bo admitted honestly that she knew the idea seemed crazy but it was the only one she had at the moment. "She didn't seem the type to ask for Kenzi to be brought to her if that wasn't necessary... with the cull order she can't come here."

"The Dal doesn't even begin to have the equipment necessary for quarantine, let alone pain management and the monitoring that must be done." Lauren shook her head more solidly. "And that doesn't even begin to address the steps being taken to keep the ghoul dormant." She pushed a hand up through her hair. "Bo." She looked at her lover with a hard frown but then let it melt away seeing the succubus' look of helplessness. She took another breath and then reached forward, cupping her hands around Bo's cheeks. "Go talk to Hale, he can release all the equipment you're going to need, and the transport to do it." She reasoned suddenly making the necessary reverse on her decision. "Ask for Trebecker, he's the best I have." She added as an after thought and could see the visible relief on Bo's face that she didn't have to convince her.

"Have you ever heard of the Highbourne family?" Bo asked another question that was on her mind, as always wanting to get the blonde's unique perspective whenever she could.

"I'm a physician Bo, not a historian." Lauren pointed out softly, letting her hands drop. "As it is I'm using what level clearance Hale has given me to look into the background of Druids." She glanced at her discarded tablet. "But you need to go, literally you don't have the time to be here, and hour is not that long to complete the complicated transfer."

"But I need to ask about you, about all this..." The succubus began to argue, though if she was honest there wasn't much strength to her words, she wasn't sure she could add the details of what was happening to her lover to everything else in her head right now and still function.

"No you don't, not right now." Lauren shook her head, "You need to move." She encouraged the succubus.

"I'll be back as soon as I can." Bo reached up cupping the blonde's cheek and then leaned in to kiss her, knowing she couldn't walk out of the room if she hadn't done so. "Make Hale call the Dal line if you need me." She stressed wanting to be sure Lauren understood.

The blonde nodded as she watched Bo backing up towards the door, the succubus not turning away even as her hand found the door.

"I love you." Lauren smiled, her voice soft as Bo reached the door.

"I love you too." Bo held the blonde's eyes, hanging there for the moment that was only a moment but spoke for hours about everything that was going on but couldn't be talked about under the time constraints. "I will be back as soon as I can." She vowed again, finding as always the energy from deep inside to remember the chaos of the situation and how she did need to be already talking to Hale and already moving Kenzi to the Dal. Holding Lauren's eyes for one more second she finally pushed out the door into the clean room beyond.

-x-


	21. Chapter 21

Disclaimers: All original property is owned by Showcase, and we do not infer that any characters, creations or the concept of 'Lost Girl' are our property and the following fan fiction has been written purely for entertainment purposes only.

Pairings: Bo/Lauren Set directly after our story "Faeral", the third story in an AU plot line.

Rating: M (Contains scenes of violence, sexuality and nudity)

**Faery Tale: Chapter Twenty-One**

By: The Rainbowwriters

Bo had been reduced to the role of 'observer', as the main area of the Dal was transformed from a bar into an impromptu over sized hospital room. The transition had been made in two waves; the first brought an entire replicated set of equipment for Kenzi from the compound, which was set up by technicians in the hurriedly cleared space; the second had finally brought Kenzi herself. The young woman being settled quickly into the medical super bed, many of the sensors built into it rather than having to be attached to the patient's body. The truth was the bed reminded Bo a little too much of Nadia's pod for her to be totally comfortable with it.

The succubus had tried to be more involved with getting Kenzi settled, but all of her requests had been so far denied. After all Bo had to admit that she didn't know anything about the medicines being added to Kenzi's IV, or about the machines that were being checked and programed. Her true concern was of course her best friend, but Kenzi was in a deep medically induced sleep and wasn't showing any signs of stirring.

Her roll of observer, helped her notice quickly that the harvester and her unusual animal bodyguard were missing, but something just told her that the strange woman would return when it was the right time.

All the while Trick stood silent and motionless behind the bar, glancing occasionally at Bo, his look unreadable. Eventually a tall, heavy set blonde man, who appeared to be middle aged, though Bo knew that meant nothing as he was fae so he could be forty or four hundred, approached the bar.

"I'm Dr. Trebecker, The Ash told me you asked for me by name but I don't recall having met you." He greeted both Bo and Trick with a nod.

"Dr. Lewis suggested you since she couldn't make it." Bo spelled out the reason for him being chosen, hoping he would understand how important his job was. "You're job is to keep Kenzi alive, The Ash did make that clear didn't he?"

"Indeed, he stressed that while I am here I take my orders from the representative of the Light, Mr. Fitzpatrick McCormick and that nothing that occurs here is to be discussed in any way out side of these walls." The other fae explained that indeed he had been given very clear instructions.

"Exactly, look after Kenzi." Bo looked from the man to the bed where her best friend was and was surprised by how long it took him to understand that he should go do his work. "Trick..." She finally turned to the bartender when they were alone. "As we have a few minutes, can you explain to me why finding out your visitor was Thistle Highbourne, made you look like you'd seen a ghost?"

"Not now Bo." Trick blatantly cut off the conversation and moved to usher all the technicians out of the Dal, leaving only the three of them and the patient within.

The Succubus couldn't hide her sense of outrage at just being blown off but as the door was sealed behind the last of the technicians, she wasn't surprised to hear the soft breeze announcing that true to her word Thistle had returned. Somehow her grandfather had known, and she wondered now what she'd missed.

Thistle, without her barghest guard, seemed to walk from out of nowhere into being. Mid-step, Thistle was already pulling off her cloak, she draped it over the end of the bar as she moved directly towards Kenzi's bedside.

"This is Kenzi." Bo moved over to stand right up beside her best friend's bed, looking down at her sadly before looking back up into Thistle's appraising red eyes.

The lithe auburn haired fae did a very slow circumnavigation of the table in the middle of the Dal and then stopped behind Kenzi's head and put a hand either side of Kenzi's neck about three inches off her skin.

"I could make it quick, simple, pain free." Red eyes panned up to the meet with Bo's, her tone questioning in an unreadable way.

"I think I was very clear that that wasn't an option." Bo hissed the words as she met the challenging look and didn't flinch in the slightest.

"You did but I thought I would allow you the chance to reconsider. After all, this offer is merciful, the option you favour is one of considerable pain and prolonged anguish." Thistle tried to help Bo see the truth in her words, her voice was once more even and calm as she continued to 'read' the succubus in all the ways that her Druidic powers allowed her too.

"What do you mean?" For the first time, Bo seemed to waver on her conviction to blindly trust 'removal' of the ghoul from Kenzi as the best option. "What is it that you have to do that causes so much pain?" She tried to get more details, as so far neither the Druid or Trick had been very forthcoming with details.

"You know nothing about what I do? About what it is my kind do?" The harvester asked the questions, her eyes moving over to fix on Trick for a second before she gave as soft shake of her head in admonishment. "To save your friend... I must tear both her essence and the essence of that which wrongfully inhabits her body out of it." She began simply but something about her tone underlined that simple was not what it really was. "I must then separate the two into their complete individual identities and then replace the one that belongs back into the vessel that should hold it, and seal that which does not in something else, or return it to where it came from." She summed up the process. "Do you know where this entity came from?" She asked of Bo.

"The Norn." Bo said the two words laden with anger and red eyes suddenly shifted to Trick, as her petite body stood tall suddenly next to Kenzi's bed.

"You brought me here to harvest that which already belongs to another?" She snarled at him and turned taking long strides towards the door.

"No, the Norn declared the ghoul was given to Kenzi as a gift. Kenzi did something rash in order to reclaim something promised to the Norn by another. The Norn relinquished that item and during the encounter the ghoul's jar was smashed, exposing Kenzi to it." Trick made the distinction quickly in a high excited voice, after all he would have never even made the call if there was questions of ownership.

The harvester paused in her retreat, drawing in a long breath. Very slowly Thistle turned again and looked at the two of them, almost appraising whether she had been right to even agree to look at Kenzi.

"Are there any more surprises that await me in this?" Thistle asked bluntly, her hand going to her thin hip to emphases that they should tell her now.

"Kenzi... well the thing in Kenzi, Septima... scratched someone else, another human." Bo put out the other important fact as she saw it. "I need them both free of this thing, I can't lose either of them."

This comment made not only Thistle look at Bo with an unreadable expression but Trick as well, from his place at the bar the Blood King spoke the succubus' name very quietly questioning her tactics right now.

"Septima scratched Lauren, she's infected with who knows what plagues already, the lab is trying to isolate what and treat her with what they can." Bo looked at her grandfather frowning at his reaction. "But Lauren's focus has been Kenzi, she didn't even realize she was hurt."

"I am afraid your other friend needs to find either a good doctor or a strong faith." The harvester summed up not knowing the irony of her words as she looked directly at Bo with an even stare. "I am a harvester not a healer, disease and contagions are things of the body, not of the soul."

"Lauren is a doctor, right now she is trying to create vaccines so that if any of Septima's contagions get into the human population we can keep thousands from dying." Bo understood what the fae was saying but still warred that there had to be something more that could be done. Lauren was already doing everything medically possible to help, couldn't the supernatural do its part to help her back. "I can't lose either of them." She reiterated feeling a flash of overwhelming panic and she hoped that she had managed to suppress the flash of blue that sparkled across her eyes.

"Why?" Thistle asked not missing a second of the electrified colour that glittered in through brown, the show of power bringing more curiosity to the harvester then fear. "Speak to me of your plea, your grandfather has already come to me on your behalf, but I would hear from you why I should save this human."

"What I'm supposed to say to you... other than please, save her if you can. Kenzi is more than just a human, she is an extra special one. She is my best friend, like a sister to me." Bo tried to express what she could to this enigma before her. "She was the first person to ever make me feel it was okay to be me, whatever I was."

"Like a sister you say." Thistle pulled her hands to her sides and then moved again to walk around the large bed, her eyes travelling over Kenzi's body before shifting to look towards Trick for a moment. "I had a sister." She paused at the foot of the bed. "She looked much like me, only her eyes were the colour of the setting sun, her hair as gold as ripened barley."

"No..." Trick's voice was a horrified whisper. "It can't be." He shook his head as he took a step back to press against the back wall of the bar.

"She loved to laugh and sing, she could charm the birds from the sky with just a smile." Red eyes now focused on Trick alone as Thistle began to step from the bed towards the bar.

"Your sister?" In a moment of understanding Bo's eyes flickered between the small fae and her grandfather, a cold sinking feeling filling her stomach.

"I swear to you Thistle Highbourne, I did not know." Trick shook his head as Thistle continued to slowly advance towards him. "I never wished the death of your sister..."

"Tara, her name was Tara." Thistle clarified cutting him off, her voice cold and hard. "And you may not have wished for it Blood King, but it was your hand that penned the warrant for my death, your hand that handed out gold coins in return for her head." She breathed in through her nose, her breathing slightly staggered. "Your law, written in fear and ignorance killed a fae that brought more love, more happiness than you can ever imagine." She eventually stopped her advance towards Trick. "And now here I stand a myriad of lifetimes later, with the heart of one of your kin in my hand." She glanced back at Bo. "You really expect me to save her Blood King, show mercy when you showed none?"

"No one would expect you to save her for him." Bo put forward her voice full of conviction, trying to take Thistle's focus away from Trick and the past. "But please save her for me. Do what you can to save her because you can spare my sister, because I didn't have anything to do with any of this history and neither did Kenzi." She pointed out furrowing her brow. "I'm not light or dark Thistle, I don't hunt down anyone unless they are using their powers to hurt and kill humans or generally trying to take over the world." She thought back to facing off with the Garuda for a moment. "I make my decisions based on the moments and the circumstances, which is all I can ask you to do for me right now, and for her." She motioned to Kenzi. "You have powers based around the soul, the ones she needs to have any chance of surviving this. Look at her and tell me that she doesn't deserve the chance to live, to be separated from this ghoul?"

Pulling her focus away from Trick, who was for his part looking totally distraught, Thistle back tracked to Kenzi's side and moved back up to close beside Bo. For the first time she reached out her hand and placed it on Kenzi's body, lying her palm against Kenzi's brow. Red eyes closed and then just as slowly opened as she pulled her hand back from the contact.

"Who bound her in this fashion?" She asked not looking away from Kenzi, instead she began once again to move around the table examining the young human's body more closely.

"Lauren, the one with the scratches, like I told you she's a doctor." Bo outlined wanting to give this woman as many reasons as she could to do something to help Lauren if she could.

"And yet you said that she was human." A frown graced the harvester's brow again. "This is fae technology." She stopped and seemed to look at Bo a little differently than before. "Just how many humans do you own, granddaughter of the Blood King?" Her voice held a slightly strange tone.

"I don't own any." Bo shook her head moving up to the bed so that Kenzi was in between herself and the harvester. "I don't believe any fae or human can own each other, it isn't right. Kenzi is my best friend, my sister... Lauren is..." She hesitated just imagining the look she was getting from her grandfather. "Lauren is my lover, my heart." She held red eyes that widened as she said the word. "I own neither of them, I just love them."

In a move that seemed almost odd for the so far composed and detached fae, Thistle Highbourne literally took a step back in surprise and raised her hand to cover her face, but the slight crinkling of skin at the edges of her eyes showed Bo that the fae was smiling.

"Forgive me." Thistle kept her head down, her face mostly covered as she composed herself. She cleared her throat and looked up again at Bo her 'game face' back in place. "You love them?" She said the words, the thread of a smiling threatening to pull at her top lip all the while even as she tried to control it.

"Haven't I made that clear? Kenzi is my sister, Lauren is my girlfriend." Bo was actually started to get upset at how it appeared the other fae was simply dismissing her claims as amusing. "I know that most fae, hell almost all of you, have this crazy idea that humans are only good as food or slaves, but I happen to think they are pretty amazing just on their own. Not only that my best friend is a human and I wouldn't change her for anything, which is why right now I am trying to get over you and your Harry Potter cloak of wind and you're Sci-Fi special effect red glowing eyes, and beg you to help her."

"This is what happens Blood King, when you mess with what should be." Red eyes again shifted to look at Trick. "It finds a way." She said letting a true smile grace her lips as she turned her head to look at him completely. "I will do what I do child." She turned back to look at Bo, her motions almost dizzying to the brunette. "But you need to hear, need to know why I do it." She focused solely on the succubus again, though she could feel and hear Trick moving, his hands gripping the bar, the tension in his body silently begging with her to stop. "I will do what I can to remove Septima from your friend because this is the purpose, the sole purpose of my kind. It is what a Harvester dedicates themselves to when they train and learn for half a century. A harvester takes a vow to rid the world of evil, to take from those who are innocent all that would taint and harm them. A harvester believes that the soul is sacred and that the most sacred of all souls are those of humans."

"You mean..." Bo felt her rising anger settle back down almost like she'd been dosed by a bucket of cold water. "Do you think humans are equal to fae?"

"Equal? At the very least." Thistle nodded and then looked at Trick. "What reason did you give your granddaughter for the slaughter of my kind old man?"

"Necromancy." Bo had the word out before Trick could do anything to mitigate the conversation.

For the first time ever Thistle laughed, but it wasn't a bright pleasant sound, it was a dark sharp bark filled with anger.

"This is what you told her? You tried to justify the extinction order of a race on the actions of fifty, maybe less?" Thistle shook her head and looked at Bo. "Whilst telling her nothing of what you truly feared out us. The fact that we lived with and openly among these..." She paused and almost reverently brushed her hand down Kenzi's cheek. "Beautiful people, befriending them, helping them, even loving them, maybe more than we did our own kind."

"Bo, please." Trick finally spoke up. He had moved out from behind the bar and was coming towards them. "She is twisting the truth, fusing lies with truth." He reached to turn Bo towards him. "You must understand it was a different time, the world a different place, the humans could not be equal to us, we are the Fae." His dark eyes looked at Bo pleading to her for some level of understanding.

"You know my opinion on that topic." Bo flashed him a look, remembering all of the trauma about Lauren's worth that had been overshadowed by Dyson's actions. "Humans are equal to the fae." She it spelled out for him, remembering this was an age old argument but it had a different spice to it this time. After all, shouldn't he somehow understand now?

"They are, what they are Bo." Trick kept his voice controlled. "Some of them have proven loyal and brave, special." He chose his words carefully. "But they are not Fae, not equal, they are..."

"Say it, say it old man." Thistle snarled injecting herself back into their conversation. "They are food." Her hand cupped Kenzi's cheek tenderly. "A race on this planet for Fae to devour and toss aside." Her red eyes positively glowed.

"They are not Fae." Trick balled his hands up at his sides. "And I will not partake in this debate any longer." He turned angrily and moved towards the back room entrance.

Bo couldn't help but just watch as Trick left feeling something inside of her twist uncomfortably. Though she couldn't take the time to internalize this, she knew somehow that a fundamental truth had just been presented to her. Her grandfather would never value humans like she did, never see them as truly equal.

"What has happened between our families will not taint what I do for your friend." Thistle pulled her hand back from Kenzi's cheek and moved around the bed again giving Bo some space. "You compassion for her is inspiring, though I have to be honest after my first assessment of her..." She paused and frowned. "She will have to lose the arm."

"What?" Bo whirled around and followed Thistle, not wanting any part of Kenzi's brain to hear this part. "Lose her arm?"

"For what I can read it must be where the soul contact was made and a rift was created." The harvester explained what she thought Bo would understand, picking up the limb and frowning as she ran the fingrs of her other hand over it. "It would be my fear that was I to leave it, that I would be leave her with the equivalent of an open wound, but one that leads to her soul not her blood body." She tried to explain more. "Since she walks in the world of fae, it would leave her mortally vulnerable."

"I kind of understand but..." Bo felt as if all the air had been sucked out of her body as she looked back at Kenzi. "Is there any way to save it, she's only 21?"

"You really do care for her." Thistle again looked at Bo and smiled a truly genuine smile as she made the assessment softly. After all, within only moments of being told the need for the limb to be amputated, Bo was fighting against the idea blindly unable to accept any trauma that wasn't completely unavoidable.

"I do.. I see the way you... look at me, look through me..." Bo held out her hand. "And I know you know what I am but..." She kept it held out. "Do whatever you do to look inside and see that what I am telling you is the honest truth. I was raised by humans, I love humans, Kenzi in particular. She is a part of me."

"To offer your hand to a harvester could be a foolish thing, your grandfather certainly hasn't taught you all he should have." Thistle looked at Bo's outstretched hand for a long moment. "And I do not need to touch you to know that you do indeed care for this young one." She glanced down again at Kenzi. "So put your hand down." She encouraged her softly. "And explain to me more about this other human you spoke of, explain to me how an unaligned succubus has two human friends and has access to equipment like this." She offered Bo the information she wanted most to understand as she continued her assessment of Kenzi.

"This is all Lauren... who is not my friend Thistle." Bo didn't know why but she felt the need to make this distinction, after all she could hardly ever say that she put Kenzi and Lauren in the same category together. "She is my lover, and the head of the light fae's laboratory compound... she is enslaved to the Ash."

"I see." Thistle glanced up only briefly. "She has considerable skill, these bindings will help your friend endure the ceremony I must put her through, they will secure her body as it fights the spasms of possession." She summed up. "I must ask though, is it not dangerous to love the property of The Ash?"

"It can be, but it's complicated." Bo found herself making the admission without really analyzing what she was saying, more that she was just watching Thistle continue her assessment. "She was lied to in order to secure her pledge, Kenzi..." She looked to her best friend. "Is supposed to be conducting an investigation to prove that she has been mistreated and so that her freedom can be restored."

"Complicated indeed." Thistle nodded softly and then glanced to where Trick had disappeared into his back annex.

"As you can guess, my grandfather neither approves nor condones my relationship with Lauren." Bo sighed. "He just doesn't get how much I love her."

"It saddens my heart to see that time had not softened his heart, nor changed his understanding." Thistles' words seemed genuine. "I will need time to assess how to proceed to help your friend, I am sure though that you feel you need to stay with her, I can honestly tell you there is little you can do for her, until I have a better understanding and a plan for the removal."

"Actually there is something else I need to take care of..." Bo looked at Kenzi. "I know I may seem stupid and young but... if you hurt her on purpose..." She narrowed her eyes at the harvester needing there to at some level be this understanding.

"I know what you will do, maybe more than you do." Thistle replied somewhat cryptically.

-x-

"Trick? Trick?" Bo moved down quickly into the Blood King's private quarters, not sure what he would be doing by now to 'occupy' himself elsewhere. With any luck, his distraction could keep him busy and away from Thistle as she worked upstairs.

Unexpectedly, the older fae was sitting in his high backed comfortable chair, cradling a large glass of some dark coloured liquor, the room in darkness apart from the table lamp that burned on the desk a way off over his right shoulder.

"Trick." Bo stopped a few feet in front of him, held almost in place by the odd contemplative look on his face.

"I don't have the answers you seek." He didn't look up at her, instead he just focused on raising the glass to his lips and taking a sip.

"Are you sure you even know the questions?" Bo challenged him softly, not sure what exactly he'd been expecting her to say.

"You want to know how I could do it, how I could sign off on an order that I knew would mean the slaughter of fae who had never, would never involve themselves in dealing of necromancy and similar darkness." He looked miserably down into his glass. "You want to know how, I as a King, could have ever though that a cull was the right way to handle any problem that I and my people faced." He took in a slow breath. "You want to know how these hands could turn over a purse full coin in exchange for a severed head, clearly not knowing for sure who it was."

"What I really want to know most Trick is would you do it again?" Bo whispered the actual question that burned inside her hotter than others. She knew the past was complicated, it always was, a web of interlocking views and motivations. A concrete outcome, that though historical, the reasons behind it were as fluid as the future sometimes. "Would you make the mistake twice?"

"Your question is based on the assumption that I believe the first time I made the decision that it was a mistake." Trick pointed out as he leaned forward to place his glass on a smaller end table by the side of the chair. "Which is not true." He summed up shaking his head. "I regret that the decision had to be made, but I do not regret making it." He pointed out the distinction he wanted to be clear about. "And I was the only one in the position to do so." He breathed out somewhat stiffly. "Would I make the same decision again tomorrow if it were mine to make, I cannot say." He shook his head.

"Then I don't have any more questions Trick, because we will never agree on the fundamental issue. No one has the right to make that decision, to exterminate a type of fae because of any fear or because they won't abide by one of your little rules." Bo shook her head almost defiant to his 'royal' mannerisms. "And to exterminate them because they saw value in the humans that you couldn't... when you yourself admit you cannot see the soul the way they see it, cannot see their magical world." She shook her head again. "There is a word for that, its called a holocaust."

"Now is not the time or the place for this Bo, we need what the harvester can do." He rested his hand on the glass as he obviously tried to dumb down his flare reaction of anger to Bo's words. "I can see how, with your up bringing and your limited understanding you would say such things, but that does not make them true." He pointed out.

"Well they always say the winner writes his own history." Bo just couldn't stand the condescending look she seemed to be getting right now. "Truth is I came down here to see if you still had the Abath horn?"

"For Lauren." Trick breathed out another barely restrained sigh as he released his grip on the glass and pushed off chair moving off towards the vault. "It won't cure her, you know that." He spoke as he walked.

"I know, but it will help her fight longer until her lab can create a cure." Bo pointed out the way she had been thinking the horn was of use. "Unless you know other cures?" She made sure to ask the question directly.

"I can look." His eyes were on Bo as he came out carrying the wrapped horn. "The plagues carried by ghouls never truly affected the fae, little effort was made..." He stopped realizing that this probably wasn't something that needed to be added to the discussion at this point. "I will look and ask around." He adapted his initial response and held it out to her. "But the horn should help her endure a little longer."

-x-


	22. Chapter 22

Disclaimers: All original property is owned by Showcase, and we do not infer that any characters, creations or the concept of 'Lost Girl' are our property and the following fan fiction has been written purely for entertainment purposes only.

Pairings: Bo/Lauren Set directly after our story "Faeral", the third story in an AU plot line.

Rating: M (Contains scenes of violence, sexuality and nudity)

**Faery Tale: Chapter Twenty-Two**

By: The Rainbowwriters

It was on her way back to the compound that Bo actually thought of Dyson for the first time. If she was honest with herself, she hadn't actually thought of the wolf since he'd been sent off to clean up after Septima at the morgue and with his departure from her immediate sphere of contact, he'd drifted clear off her radar.

Of course, Bo knew she had to touch base with him sooner than later. After all Bo could claim a lot of things but she knew that Dyson was worried about Kenzi and he deserved to be up to date on what was going on at the very least. The bigger problem was that she wasn't sure she could take another negative opinion coming down on her, Trick had been enough, and the situation with Thistle was tense already.

Her mind still busy within itself, Bo was part of the way down a hallway on her way towards Lauren's quarantine room when she looked up to see the wolf waiting ahead for her. He had probably been leaned against the wall there at the crossroads, staking out the route to Lauren in order to intercept her, but as he had seen her first, he was now standing and watching her approach impatiently.

"I was just going to get Hale to track you down for me." Bo walked right up to him stopping a short distance away. "Was everything contained?" She asked the important question on the 'saving the city' front. Mostly she knew that Lauren would be pleased to hear directly from the source that everything had been cleaned.

"Disinfected and cleaned." He added the two things Lauren had requested him do to the morgue and the area nearby with a nod. "Hale told me to wait here for you and not follow you to the Dal, want to talk to me about that?" His reply wasn't anywhere near as lighthearted as Bo's initial opening had been.

"A lot has happened and I need to talk to you before you're anywhere near there." Bo looked up holding his eye.

"You think I hadn't worked that out? I don't like taking orders Bo even if they do come from The Ash." He held her look but broke the contact periodically, keeping himself under control but it was obvious he wasn't happy about anything that had greeted him on his arrival back at the lab.

"The fact is there is someone at the Dal, someone Trick called who is going to take the ghoul out of Kenzi." Bo could be seen to take a breath in, steadying herself to this, one of the pinnacle moments of her 'dealing' with him after all that had happened.

"Trick called someone in?" It was obvious that this revelation derailed the wolf slightly, the fact that it was his oldest friend that had brought someone into their midst behind his back obviously more of a shock than anything. "Who?" He demanded to know immediately.

"Thistle Highbourne." Bo said the name carefully, watching his reaction.

"That's impossible Bo, the Highbournes and all their kin are dead." His outline was absolute and definitive.

Bo forced herself not to react when blatantly faced with the fact that she already knew in her head, but hadn't actually faced in her heart. Of course Dyson knew all about the culling of the harvesters, possibly had even helped in the cull, being a great tracker and hunter. She looked at him for just a moment with sad, disappointed eyes.

"Yes well apparently the head that my grandfather paid out bounty on that day wasn't Thistle's, it was her sister, Tara's." Bo cleared up what she did know watching for the shifter's reaction, though as was so common for the wolf, he masked any behind a locked jaw and a tensing of his shoulders.

"Have you been told what she is?" Dyson kept his demeanour by continuing to ask questions and not respond to anything Bo said.

"She's a Druidic harvester, she's going to strip the two essences from inside Kenzi, put Kenzi back where she should be and deal with Septima." Bo outlined what had finally been explained to her.

For the first time the shifter showed any kind of reaction, one of surprise.

"Apparently you have been told." He dropped his gaze back to the floor, obviously he had been expecting the answer to be negative, or at least some kind of partial half truth.

"I also know that it's hard and apparently horrible..." For the first time there was a slight waver in Bo's voice. "But that it's the only way to save her Dyson." She forced herself to swallow bringing back both of their focus to exactly what was at stake.

"I would have told you... about the existence of harvesters Bo, about their powers if I thought..." Dyson began, his tone apologetic.

"Don't." Bo put up her hand and shook her head. "I understand why you didn't, I really do." She breathed out her voice full of genuine honesty, in all of this, after all that had happened between them, that was one thing she didn't blame him for. There was no reason for Dyson to have mentioned harvesters to her, no need to have ignited a spark of hope that he had no belief in. "But we have one now and I need you to rise above whatever prejudice there is in there, for me, for Kenzi." She looked him squarely in the eyes.

"I swear to protect and support her with all I am for as long as she is here to help Kenzi." Dyson vowed solemnly, keeping Bo's gaze.

For a moment Bo just focused on the words and the serious, reliable tone with which the wolf said them, surprised by the level of solace they brought her.

"Thank you." She blinked her eyes at him, breathing out hard. "I should warn you..." She licked her lips, watching the tension that had dropped out of Dyson's shoulders instantly fill them again. "Thistle warned me that Kenzi will..." The succubus stopped, her brain catching on the words that she was about to say, in revolt. She hurriedly tried to think of another way of phrasing the sentence that didn't actually put into words that they would have to disfigure her best friend. "She said something about where her soul was breached by the splash being a permanent weakness for her soul, and that the best way to stop anything from..." Bo felt sweat coat her palms and trickle around the back of her neck as she tried to work her way up to saying it.

"Best to lose an arm than to lose a Kenzi." Dyson stepped in and rescued the flailing succubus, his tone softer than before. "She'll adapt Bo." He added, keeping the soothing tone to his voice. "Far better than we would adapt to not having her around."

Again Bo just looked up at him, her mind and heart torn. How could he be this calm, reassuring and gentle support, and the fearsome, jealous monster at the same time? She wanted to believe that one was his true being, the other a state forced on him by influence and outside force. With a soft shake of her head, the succubus stopped her brain from going down that avenue, there were too many things to focus on right now without that.

"I know you're right, it just doesn't feel fair." Bo summed up taking a small step back from the wolf.

"I know." Dyson nodded, a soft frown creasing his eyes as he watched Bo move away, as if truly struck for the first time how before she would have stepped towards him, to acknowledge and accept the support he offered, but how now she stood on her own. "I'll go to the Dal, you go see Lauren... I was going to visit but I didn't know what to say or whether or not I would be welcome."

Bo nodded and made a move as if to step away but then faltered.

"You know about Lauren?" She turned and looked at him, blinking rapidly as she tried to process what this could mean. "That is I mean, what? You were going to visit her?" One could almost see tension and anxiety pull Bo's spine and shoulders taut.

"Hale told me, about the cross infection to Lauren from the ghoul. I guessed that's why you're here and not with Kenzi at the Dal." Dyson explained what he had figured out. "I'm sorry." He dropped his head again.

"Stay away from Lauren." Bo knew her retort was irrational and unnecessary but it was said before she could stop herself. "And she, that is we, don't need your sympathy, she's going to be fine." The brunette began blinking rapidly, she felt heat begin to prick her eyes as they began to fill with tears. "She's might not even get sick, they're still doing tests, the scratches were made before the ghoul..." Bo brushed her hand at her cheek as one of her tears had the audacity to spill over onto it from her eyes, her nose was suddenly running and sniffly as she shook her head more and looked at Dyson. "So we don't need you. We don't need you to visit and we don't need to hear you say you're sorry."

Dyson felt his heart constrict tightly in his chest as he basically watched Bo fall apart in front of him, but what killed him inside the most was the voice that told him not to reach out to her, not to offer support, simply because it wasn't his place to do so any more.

"I just..." Dyson tried but stopped. "I'll go to the Dal, take as long as you need here." He backed up more deciding against addressing any of Bo's points.

For her part Bo just stood as still as she could, though her body was shaking, her eyes on Dyson until he had backed away a few paces, almost as if expecting her to say something. When she didn't he turned and walked away in silence.

-x-

As Bo slipped into the step down room attached to Lauren's quarantine area she was glad that the privacy blinds between areas were drawn as she hadn't wanted to go straight into being seen by her lover. She needed a moment to try and calm herself and focus. Dropping heavily into one of the lightly padded chairs Bo could feel the light tremble that filled her body as she pushed her hands up through her hair and brushed at the tears that had fallen unchecked down her face as she had moved from her interaction with Dyson through the lab to Lauren's room.

In some ways she knew it was pointless trying to pull herself together like this because Lauren would know as soon as she walked in that something, everything was wrong, but she still felt the need to try. After all it was her job wasn't it, didn't she have to be the strong one right now? She had to be the one to fight, because Lauren and Kenzi, they couldn't. They needed her.

Bo pushed up out of the chair and moved to wash her face and collect everything she would need to make the tea that would help Lauren, Trick had even written down some suggestions of dosages and strengths to try, and had included some other herbs in the small package he had given her with the horn, and she was eager to see how they would help her lover.

Unfortunately Bo was not ready for how different the set up in Lauren's room was since the last time she had been there. The blonde was now under the covers in the bed, another set of medicines were being carefully sent through her IV along with the regular hydration, and a full array of monitors beeped and whined their processes. An oxygen line looped over the blonde's ears and across her cheek, up into her nose. The succubus' stomach turned inside out as she closed the door behind herself, making Lauren blink open tired eyes.

"Bo." A slim smile graced Lauren's lips.

"Hey." Bo returned the greeting. "I bring horn and herbs." She lifted the small packet she had brought from the Dal.

"Do I get to admit I am not looking forward to the taste of the tea, even though the properties of the Abath horn are legendary, even in terms of all things fae." Lauren shifted a little, pressing the button on the bed arm to move it more upright.

"Hey let me help you with that." Bo instantly moved to arrange blankets and pillows.

"Bo, it's fine." Lauren smiled and shook her head reaching to pull the oxygen feed out of its place.

"Oh no, no no." The succubus reached out and caught the move mid way. "I'm pretty sure that needs to stay where it was."

"It's a precautionary measure Bo, not a necessity." The blonde shook her head. "My blood oxygen level dipped earlier, it fluctuates naturally all the time. The fae here aren't used to human patients and how delicately balanced our systems can seem." She gave a fuller explanation.

"Yes well as true as that might be, all those times you lectured me about medicine, have now come back to haunt you." Bo reached to put the tube back in place. "Tubes stay put Bo." She recited what Lauren had said to her on one occasion.

"On that particular occasion Bo I was talking about a drainage tube and I was trying to clear out your lung before we could find someone suitable for you to feed from." Lauren objected to the cross reference with a frown.

"Medical differences mean nothing to me." Bo smirked. "How do you take your tea? Remember that that is a rhetorical question because you take it how I make right now, but I like to give the you know, air of choice." She moved over to the side and began mixing the things she needed together to make a cup of the brew.

"How is Kenzi?" Lauren asked as she watched Bo carefully measuring out herbs and water. "How was the transfer and what did the harvester say?"

"She's..." Bo paused as despite everything the first thing that came to mind to tell Lauren was the part about the young woman probably losing her arm. "The doctor you so highly recommended is very happy with her. Though seriously, if I was the insecure type I'd be worried about you and him. Every sentence out of his mouth begins with Dr. Lewis this, or while studying under Dr. Lewis I..." Bo looked over her shoulder at her lover with a smile. "Be honest with me baby, do you have a thing for well built, slightly balding male fae?"

Lauren chuckled softly shaking her head.

"Er... no." She underlined without a pause. "But he is very good at his job." She added. "And now explain to me the hesitation." She pushed her lover softly. "I'm guessing it's something the harvester said. Is it something about the ritual? Something you need? Payment?"

"No, nothing like that." Bo moved back to the bed, leaving the tea to steep. "I don't understand the details because I don't understand how any of this has happened but, the place that the goo touched Kenzi, on her arm, apparently even after the ritual, if just left it would leave Kenzi open to, I don't know... it happening again I guess." Bo's brow furrowed deeply showing her true confusion with it all. "So Thistle, the harvester, thinks the solution is going to have to be to just take it off." The succubus vaguely gestured at her own arm.

"What?" Lauren's voice was almost silent with disbelief. "No, I mean surely..."

"She's still assessing, judging. If there is a way we can keep her arm I'm sure she'll tell me." Bo admitted."It's crazy but after all she's been through I don't get from her a sense that she would do anything to hurt Kenzi, quite the opposite actually." The succubus was honest. "I believe her when she says she'll tell me if she can think of something, anything."

"I wish I could be of more use." Lauren frowned herself this time as she glanced over to where, unusually for the blonde doctor, her tablet was powered off and placed well out of reach on a side table. "I should do some more research..."

"Lauren stop, you have been are being essential." Bo shook her head to any idea that her lover was inadequate. "You even impressed a harvester with your skills today without even being in the room." She tried to encourage her. "Seriously, Thistle said the binding you did on Kenzi will help a lot, especially during the harvesting."

"Now that is something I really wish I knew more about." Lauren admitted as Bo moved to bring the blonde her tea.

"That makes two of us." The succubus agreed as she handed it over and watched as her lover took a sip, trying hard not to smile as Lauren masked a grimace at the bad taste. "All I can think of is bad exorcism movies and pea soup." She sat down on the edge of the bed playing with the turned over blanket top.

"I don't think you need to be worried about the soup." Lauren said gently. "I wish I could be there with you when it happens, I'm..." For the first time during the visit the blonde's demeanour seemed to dip slightly, "I have so much to say to you." The blonde lowered the cup to rest on the bed as her hand began shaking.

"Don't." Bo pushed up off the bed putting her hand up to stop the blonde. She used it to rub briefly at her forehead before taking a few steps back from the bed. "You don't have to say anything."

"Bo, I do because there are things I need to say while I can still say them." Lauren stressed, her voice firm considering the situation.

"You're fine, you're going to be fine." Bo continued to back up. "I'm going to fix this, all of this." She stated, her voice tight and strained.

"Bo... please." Lauren frowned hard watching as her lover moved further and further away, without a second thought she pulled the oxygen feed free tossing it behind her as she slipped out of the bed and moved towards the succubus, the IV pulling a little before the portable pole rolled after her. "Isabeau." She dropped her voice to a soft almost whisper.

"I need you too much for you to not be okay." Bo looked up her eyes filled with tears. "My tomorrow isn't a tomorrow without you, without Kenzi."

"You need to focus on Kenzi." Lauren reached out and brushed her hand over Bo's hair, her hand ending the soft sweep cupping her lover's cheek. "Do you understand?"

"No." Bo shook her head softly in Lauren's hand. "I won't just give up on you. What do you know? What do they know?" She asked her voice tightening again.

"Enough." Lauren replied, licking her suddenly dry lips. "We know that unlike I hypothesized, victims exposed early are actually the most heavily infected, as their cadavers then become the greatest source of contamination..." The blonde slipped into 'doctor speak' despite the topic. "We also know what I have, which you don't need to know." She gave a very 'Lauren' smile as she rolled her eyes. "Save to say it's not good and not..." Again she paused. "Fixable." She used the very 'Bo' term.

"I don't understand." Bo shook her head, not moving out from her lover's touch. "There must be something, with all this technology, I thought there was a cure for everything these days. There has to be something they can do."

"Just knowing the specific strains that Septima is threatening the city with is give the lab such a head start Bo, now they can focus on..." Lauren began but the succubus interrupted.

"I'm not talking about the city I'm talking about you." She stared into brown eyes. "What are they doing for you?" She demanded.

"Symptomatically addressing issues as they arise, keeping me comfortable..."The blonde started to explain the therapy work up that had been agreed upon.

"That's it?" Bo's cheeks flushed a bright shade of hot red. "You have some kind of ancient plague and they give you oxygen and an aspirin?"

"It's not like that Bo..." Lauren tried to counter but it was obvious to the blonde that her lover wasn't listening as she pulled away from her and paced back and forth quickly, muttering something under her breath that she couldn't' quite make out.

"That's it, I'm getting you out of here." The succubus suddenly announced marching over to the array of machines at the head of the bed and switching them all off.

"What? Bo." Lauren frowned hard as she watched what the succubus was doing, but at the same time trying not to rouse too much attention so as to get the medical staff involved. "What are you doing?" She asked of her lover blinking rapidly at her.

"If this is going to happen it happens my way. And I don't go down without a fight." She announced, her voice oddly calm now she had come to a decision. "Something in the fae world caused this, so something in the fae world can fix it." She gathered the chick yellow blanket off the top of the bed, draping it over Lauren's shoulders. "I'm taking you to the Dal, and then I'm going to find the cure."

"Bo stop." Lauren put her hand on her lover's arm when she came closer. obviously unsure what to do about the IV in the blonde's arm. "Just taking me out of this room could endanger human lives, I can't do that."

"You're not going anywhere near anyone human. I am taking you to a car, then to a place filled with nothing but fae. All of which I will personally spray with bleach if I need too." Bo shook her head staring at Lauren until the blonde closed off the IV and quickly pulled it from her arm. "Tell me you'd rather stay here?"

Lauren looked at Bo unable to do or say anything, as of course the only thing she wanted right now was to be with Bo as this killer plague took its course.

"I love you Lauren, like I have never loved anything or anyone before I will not settle for good enough, I need the best, for you, for Kenzi." In a sudden move the succubus actually lifted the blonde up into her arms. "I will fight till I can do nothing else but crawl."

-x-


	23. Chapter 23

Disclaimers: All original property is owned by Showcase, and we do not infer that any characters, creations or the concept of 'Lost Girl' are our property and the following fan fiction has been written purely for entertainment purposes only.

Pairings: Bo/Lauren Set directly after our story "Faeral", the third story in an AU plot line.

Rating: M (Contains scenes of violence, sexuality and nudity)

**Faery Tale: Chapter Twenty-Three**

By: The Rainbowwriters

Bo's clarity fared well, guiding her through the compound with her precious load, and to her car with precision and speed. The journey to the Dal was as well executed, without the succubus losing any of her focus, just the occasional glance at her lover, who was safely wrapped in the soft yellow blanket, in the seat beside her, strapped in carefully. With the ease of familiarity the brunette pulled into her usual parking spot and after cutting the engine moved around to once more gather Lauren into her arms, the blonde not even fighting as she nestled in against Bo's neck. Kicking the car door closed, the succubus hurried to the back door of the Dal, that led straight into the barrel room and kicked it, hearing the lock splinter off the wood as it flung open. Making her grip on Lauren a little tighter Bo hurried down to her grandfather's private rooms.

Bo wasn't surprised that her arrival surprised Trick, who was down in his main room, sitting at his desk, flicking through a thick old tome. Obviously looking up some fact or detail about the issues at hand. Immediately, as the succubus hurried in, he pushed up off his chair.

"I need another blanket." Bo glanced up at him, her voice clear, her tone almost ordering as she carried Lauren directly over to the antique chaise against the far wall. "Please." She added when her grandfather hadn't instantly moved.

The blood king seemed to jerk into action, moving to get an exquisite looking velvet and fur throw blanket, a heavy scowl of concern on his face as Bo eased Lauren down and moved to put a cushion behind her head.

"Bo..." His voice was quiet as he gently placed the blanket over Lauren's legs. "What have you done?"

"I made a choice." Bo took a deep breath. "I tired of other people making them and going along with their decisions." She pushed up as she looked at her grandfather. "They already decided that there's nothing they can do for her, and I don't accept that." She underlined. "I'll never accept that."

"Bo..." Trick cupped the succubus' elbow with his hand and pulled her gently away from Lauren, who didn't comment, after all she knew how impulsive her lover's choice had been. "Whether or not you agreed with their decision does not change the fact that they could give her the medical attention that she needs." The blood king kept his voice a low whisper. "Do you have any idea how sick she is going to become? I don't have anywhere near the skill, or the equipment to help her like they can." He frowned even harder.

"I brought the herbs you gave me, and the Abath horn." Bo dug her hand into her pocket and pulled out the items she mentioned, holding them out to her grandfather. "And I need you to tell me about any and all fae that can heal. You take care of her while I find them." She outlined her plan.

"Bo." Trick glanced at Lauren, who unfortunately enough seemed to be over exhausted from the trip and had leaned her head into the pillow and closed her eyes, making her look all the more frail and tired. "Isabeau." He said her name again impulsively taking hold of her wrist and moving her further away from the blonde, towards the vault. "There are fae who can heal." He began, his voice low and serious.

"Great, see, I knew..." The succubus' scowl melted into a relieved smile as she looked at her grandfather with an almost childlike smile. "I knew you were the one to come to. Where do I get one? What will it take to get them to come here? To heal her?"

Her look of relief dissipated the next instant when the blood king shook his head.

"She doesn't have that long." Trick said softly his voice full of sadness.

"What?" Bo literally took a step away from her grandfather. "No, don't say that. How can you say that?" She stared at him wide eyed.

"Bo..." The old fae's voice was low and pained.

"She can't die, I won't let her die." Bo's voice tightened. "How can you just give up on her, if that was me, would you just give up on me?"

"This has nothing to do with that." Trick shook his head. "I know that recently things you have heard, decisions I have made, maybe even actions I have undertaken make you doubt it but I have no ill will towards Lauren, or the fact that she so obviously holds your heart. This has to do with the fact that she has something I can't do anything about Bo even though I..." Suddenly the old fae stopped, his face clouded for a moment by thought. It was a thought that seemed to overtake him even when his mind had been set on continuing his explanation.

The blood kings hesitation caught the succubus' attention despite her distressed state, she looked at him trying to work out what was going through his mind as the older fae suddenly began moving into the large vault.

"Trick?" She queried walking after him confused at his sudden switch in focus.

"Your great grandfather was an incubus..." The old fae could be heard to say as he moved into a darker area in the impossibly large room. "A great fae." He continued as he could be heard moving things around. "Who never liked me." He added the information with a softer chuckle, his voice getting louder as having obviously found what he was looking for, the blood king moved back into the lighter area near the door where Bo was standing in confusion. "I wasn't good enough for his Isabeau." Trick smiled again looking down at his hands which held an ornately carved box.

The obviously old container was about the size of a size of jewelry box, the top intricately carved and covered with inlay work of different woods, and what looked like mother of pearl.

"Thankfully his wife, Beatha was on my side." He recalled still smiling softly as his hands shifted on the box.

Bo wanted to listen to her grandfather, and this a rare moment of openness about the past, and about what she came from, but she didn't understand how it helped her, what it meant to her at this moment. She was distracted by the fact that her heart was breaking.

"Your great grandmother was one of the counties greatest healers Bo, in the very old times." As if sensing his granddaughter's disquiet Trick continued his story. "For centuries all would come to her; the wounded, the dying, the brokenhearted, fae, underfae, human..." He paused briefly as he drew to recall the details.

"And she healed them?" Bo stared at Trick suddenly more focused than before.

"Sometimes yes, sometimes no." The blood king replied with soft honesty. "Which is why to some she was an angel, to others the devil." He frowned slightly. "They did not understand that the choice was never hers to make." He said somewhat cryptically.

"But she's gone isn't she? I mean that she was a great healer means a lot to me but I..." Bo tried not to sound insensitive but really her focus was singular right now.

"She is, but before she died, she and her husband left something behind, a gift." He looked down again at the box in his hands. "I do not know for sure that it will help, but I do know that it cannot hinder." Trick summed up completely honestly. "The secret of how Beatha performed her healings was never revealed, to anyone. It was a mysterious ritual that involved both her and her husband. There has been none since like them." He breathed out as he held out the old box to Bo. "This gift that they left, it is all this old fae can offer his beloved granddaughter, that and the honest prayer that you can unlock its secrets."

"I don't understand." The succubus shook her head as she took a half step forward and lifted the box from Trick's hands, a little unsure at first, having no idea of what to expect in terms of weight. "What is it?" She asked as she shifted it to one hand, surprised by just how heavy it was.

Trick just nodded at her to open it, so Bo carefully opened the old tarnished latch and eased off the lid, her breath stilling in her throat when she saw what was inside. Nestled on a bed on deep green velvet was an orb, about the size of a baseball. It was bright blue and opaque. Its surface almost moving, swirling, as if constantly shifting. Though it was clearly solid, it acted as if it was liquid, alive but never changing shape.

"What is it?" Bo's voice was a whisper, though her eyes never moved off the sphere that seemed to rotate and spin in place.

"What do your senses tell you it is?" Trick replied briefly glancing at it, before focusing on his granddaughter's face, watching as she gazed at it.

"Chi." The word left Bo's lips in an astonished breathless whisper. "But..." She shook her head, while at the same time tipping her head slightly to look at it from the side, watch the cloud like spirals dance inside the orb. "How can that be?" She frowned completely awestruck by the object in the box.

"All that I know, that I can tell you is that together your great grand parents somehow made this. They drew together chi, donated freely, from many different sources and created this, stabilized universal chi, drawn from and belonging to all." His words were almost reverent. "To treat the curable and soothe the dying." He closed his eyes. "She said something to me once and right now I suddenly know, she would want you to have it." He stepped back, as if the memories, the reliving of it all was suddenly too much. His glance fell to Lauren again briefly and the frown on his face drew a little deeper in genuine disappointment that there was nothing he could do.

"It's so pretty." Bo was completely mesmerized, as she reached to touch it as if drawn to do so. When her index finger touched the very top of the sphere it was like dipping her finger into a warm pool of water, and though the surface of the orb shimmered, it didn't once slip out of shape. "I..." Bo blinked her eyes as strange feeling of warmth began to trail from her finger tip up her arm, she drew it away from the ball of chi and looked at her grandfather. "Thank you." She said, her heart so obviously in the words.

"I do not know how good of a gift it is." Trick admitted his frown permanently in place now. "But know that I give it with a heart that hurts as yours hurts, that mourns as yours mourns." He blinked at her and for the first time Bo could see that her grandfather's eyes were full of tears. Putting the lid carefully back on the box Bo stepped forward and closed her arms around Trick, holding on to him tightly for a long minute.

"Thank you." She repeated her words of honest thanks before stepping back from the embrace and reaching to wipe at a tear that had spilled onto his cheek.

"You should move Lauren to the bed, she needs rest." Trick smiled at the attention. "And when you can tear yourself away, Kenzi is awake." He added softly knowing the small joy was coming at a time of such contrasting sorrow. "Dyson is keeping her entertained but she's looking for you."

Bo nodded, taking another moment to just pull herself together a little more, taking another quick look at the box in her hand, smiling at it when she noticed for the first time, that the inlaid mother of pearl was actually in the shape of entwined hearts in each corner, and two in the centre.

"I'll settle Lauren and be right out." She nodded again to Trick as she outlined her plan, before turning to put it into action.

-x-

As she stepped out into the main bar, Bo wasn't surprised to see that nothing much had really changed even with the addition of Dyson to the mix. Dr. Trebecker was still ever present, but in the background, milling around, constantly on the move; checking this machine, or that sheet of read out, or otherwise just looking busy. The shifter was sat up on a bar stool, as close to Kenzi as he could be, helping her with anything and everything, from shifting pillows to adjusting the angle of the straw in her ice water. After all the wrappings didn't exactly allow Kenzi a lot of movement.

The absentee party from the room was Thistle, but Bo reasoned that the harvester was likely off somewhere doing something in preparation for the ritual. For what had to be the twentieth time that day Bo wished she knew more about exactly what was going to happen, so at least she could prepare herself or understand at least the basics. She hated feeling out of the loop, especially knowing both Trick and Dyson had a much better understanding of the ritual that the small woman was about to perform.

Wiping her hands on her pants Bo tried hard to push aside the incredible pressure and roller coaster that had been the last half an hour as she stepped out from behind the bar and head over towards the impressive array of medical tech that surrounded her best friend.

"I hear someone is awake." Bo announced her arrival as she walked up to Dyson's shoulder smiling as he carefully held the young woman's large glass of water.

"Hey, hey." Kenzi gave her best friend a weak smile as she gave up on her drink and leaned her head back against the support pillow behind her head. "Wolfman here said you'd slipped off for lady on lady time, I wasn't expecting you for like, hours."

"Can you keep that mind of yours out of the gutter, even when you're sick?" Bo teased softly as she moved around Dyson and perched on the other edge of the bed. "It wasn't that kind of lady time, I just need to simplify things a little, you know what I'm like. I don't like to waste time, and with her at the compound and you being here, it was too much time lost in travel." The succubus gave Dyson a quick look that said 'no she doesn't know about Lauren, and 'no she doesn't ever get to know' before putting her hand over Kenzi's, "So how are you feeling?"

"Real sorry for arguing with that truck." Kenzi smiled again, though it was obvious that just trying to be upbeat was taking a lot of the young woman's strength. The maintenance of the simple facial expression had been too much to continue for the entire time Bo had been talking.

"Next time you should listen to those of us who know." Dyson said quietly.

"Hush up you, bad dog." Kenzi grumbled teasingly, not too sick to know she could get away with verbal murder right now. "Oh talking of which, you know the dying girl gets to have last wishes right..."

"You're not dying Kenzi." Bo shook her head, feeling a chill hit her spine as she gently cradled her best friend's hand, but she managed to keep her tone light.

"You'd rob me of my last wishes?" Kenzi pouted.

"No she wouldn't, you're not going anywhere." Dyson reached out and lightly ruffled Kenzi's bangs.

"Grrr you damn fae, you just don't get it, go get Lolabell, she'll understand me." Blue eyes looked at Bo and Kenzi weakly pushed at the succubus' hand with her own as much as she could with her wrist, elbow and shoulder immobilized. "I have rights, last rights." She argued.

"No one told me you had devote religious beliefs." A new voice broke into what had begun to be a slight air of tension in the conversation. Her footsteps barely resounding even on the tile flooring, Thistle stepped up to the foot of the bed and smiled at Bo, Kenzi and Dyson. "Russian Orthodox?" She asked of the young woman as she made the guess.

Bo smiled despite the situation at the ease with which Thistle had interjected herself into the conversation.

"Okay you're new." Kenzi pointed out the 'obvious'. "But as no one is freaking out you must be good." She added the reasonable conclusion.

"My name is Thistle Highbourne." The harvester smiled at Kenzi, her focus solely fixed on her for a long moment, "I am here to make you well again." She added softly.

"Oh no that's okay, I have a doctor." Kenzi shook her head. "Though mine has hot pants, not freaky eyes." She tried a weak smile as she looked at Bo. The succubus chuckled in return and squeezed her best friend's hand gently.

"Don't worry Kenz, she's not trying to take over the hot pants category." Bo assured her, moving off the bed to where Dyson had been sitting, the shifter eased back out of the way as she moved. The succubus took a moment to rinse a cloth in cool water and draw it over Kenzi's sweat soaked brow.

"Ew Bo did you just lick me, no licking in public." Kenzi teased as she closed her eyes and leaned her head back, prompting Bo to repeat the motion with a little nudge.

"Seriously Kenzi, I need you to trust Thistle." Bo's voice was more serious as she did indeed repeat the soothing action. "She is here to help, trust her like you trust Lauren, okay? And before you know it you're going to be okay again."

"You promise? Because honestly, still feeling like balls right now." Kenzi's voice was a little weaker as she let herself relax under Bo's care. "Dr. Tree face doesn't have Lola's bedside manner." She grumbled. "I want my doctor back, as well as red eyes over there." Her voice drifted into a whisper as it became obvious that she was just talking to Bo, having lost the focus on the idea that she had any kind of audience.

"She's just downstairs, right here." Bo fought against her waring emotions as Kenzi both relaxed but also seemed to get a little weaker.

"I need you, all of you." Kenzi leaned her head a little towards Bo's hand that rested just against the side of her pillow, still holding the damp cloth. "I used to pride myself you know, in not needing anyone, tough street girl can't need anyone, but it's not like that now. Not with you, Lolo, Bad Dog and Mr. Kickers." The younger woman's breathing slowed a little as she obviously got sleepier. "And Trickster, and Mr. Ash man, my katana..." Her voice became a little slurry.

"Go to sleep Kenz." Bo pressed her lips to Kenzi's forehead, wiping the cloth over it one last time, the younger woman's eyes barely flickering in response.

"Your bond is very strong." Thistle's smile was soft and genuine Bo noted as she glanced down to the foot of the bed, where the harvester was still stood. "When you feel you can leave her side, I have something I would discuss with you." She added before moving off to sit at a near by table.

The succubus watched her move away before glancing over her shoulder at Dyson, to the wolf's credit, his demeanour hadn't changed in the slightest with the harvester's appearance.

"Go on." He encouraged her moving to retake his place on the bar stool at Kenzi's side. Bo nodded again and then slipped away to join Thistle.

"It's getting close to the time to act." Thistle spelled out looking to Bo. "The ghoul is beginning to gain strength again, its hunger is growing, when it is ready to show itself then we will be the time to separate them."

Bo looked between the rather pathetic looking form of her broken best friend and the harvester and then back again, her eyes lingering on Kenzi.

"Right." She nodded her agreement to some sort of schedule. "Do you have everything you need?"

"Yes, the list of required objects is small and I have already assembled them." Thistle admitted her readiness as she too studied Kenzi. "I have also been thinking of ways to achieve the added goal you set me." Bo looked at the harvest, confusion clouding her mind for a moment. "Her arm." Thistle clarified.

"Did you figure out some way to save it?" The eager words were out of Bo's mouth before she thought to stop them.

"Perhaps. There is a metal, old and very valuable, that has many mystical and magical properties, if you were able to provide me with a band of this metal, and if the division goes smoothly and your friend is strong enough, I may be able to seal the breech and save the limb." Thistle began her possible solution.

"What metal?" Bo asked immediately.

"Iridium, and it would have to be a circle of it, a chain or a band, something that closes in on itself without gap or break." Thistle explained more. "A necklace would be best, a bracelet perhaps, as she is so small a ring may suffice, but it would be best if there were no impurities with in it like a stone or other metals."

"A band of iridium?" Bo mulled over the suggestion, her mind trying to work out just where she was going to start with this task. "Do you have any idea where I could even begin to look?" She asked of Thistle.

"Like I said it is an ancient and expensive metal, favoured by high fae families." She offered what she could.

"I'll find some." Bo replied all question taken out of her tone as looked into amber eyes. "If it's what we need then I'll find some." She vowed again taking a deep breath and turning to look at Kenzi her face a mask of grim determination.

-x-

**Author note : thank you so much for all your feedback and love for our work, truly it means the world to Kath and I - if you have a twitter account feel free to come and say hi, we've just signed ourselves up with an account and would love to hear from you. **


	24. Chapter 24

Disclaimers: All original property is owned by Showcase, and we do not infer that any characters, creations or the concept of 'Lost Girl' are our property and the following fan fiction has been written purely for entertainment purposes only.

Pairings: Bo/Lauren Set directly after our story "Faeral", the third story in an AU plot line.

Rating: M (Contains scenes of violence, sexuality and nudity)

**Faery Tale: Chapter Twenty-four**

By: The Rainbowwriters

Bo breached the inner sanctum of the private rooms of the Dal with a new sense of purpose after her brief discussion with Thistle. Both it and the 'heirloom' Trick had given her before that had filled her with a dual sense of purpose, and better than that a focus, something that felt doable in a situation that had up until then had seen her so unable to fight in any way.

"Trick." She announced her arrival as she picked up a random ornament to look at it, her anxiety to get working on her new objective more than obvious in her tone. "Trick?" Her brown creased into a confused frown when her grandfather neither appeared nor responded to her call. She put down the small cube that she had plucked off the shelf and wandered further into the room.

It was as she did so that the blood king came marching into the room from his bedroom, a scowl on his face, a tirade of unhappy mumblings slipping from his mouth under his breath as he walked.

"Hey." Bo interrupted him as he obviously was unaware of her presence. "What's going on?" She tried not to react to the fact that her grandfather was obviously unhappy.

"Your..." Trick began but stopped himself, his frown actually melting into a smile slightly as if he had surprised himself by what he had been about to say. "Lauren is being unreasonable." He reworded his sentence as he glanced over his shoulder back at his bedroom. "One cup of Abath tea and she wants to be out of bed and taking Dr. Trebecker's place." He shook his head, the scowl returning though this time it was somewhat subtler.

A soft smile crossed Bo lips as she moved her gaze from her grandfather to the door to the bedroom.

"Let me go talk to her." Bo offered reaching out to put her hand lightly on his arm. Taking a second to tuck her hair behind her ear, she headed for the bedroom, pushing the door open silently and leaning in the doorway just watching Lauren as she sat up in the bed talking to herself.

The blonde was reciting something to herself under her breath while counting out something on her fingers, the long digits tapping out against the rich fabric of the blankets that still covered her lower body. Beside her on the antique night stand, Tricks little tea set was still sending a soft stream of steam up through its spout, clearly indicating that the remaining brew hadn't even had time to cool yet, and still the doctor was fighting to be active.

"Hey Hercules, what do you think you're doing?" Bo said eventually, pushing off from her place and making a slow walk towards the bedside.

"Bo." Lauren looked up obviously surprised to see her lover, having been expecting to once again face an indignant Trick. "I..." She seemed for a moment to be slightly derailed, the need for her gearing herself up for conflict gone. "I just wanted to do a precursory check on Kenzi." She explained, her tone soft as she smiled at the succubus.

"And I want a pony but doesn't mean it's going to happen." Bo kept her smile soft and loving as she eased down on the edge of the bed.

"Bo, I feel fine." Lauren's smile dimmed a little as this was obviously not the case and she couldn't lie to her lover, "I need to be useful." She amended her statement subtly.

Bo let a soft sigh escape her lips as she pushed up off the bed again and moved back to close the bedroom door, underlining the privacy they had.

"Resting is useful, resting helps your body fight." Bo back to sit on the bed, reaching out to put her hand over Lauren's that still tapped on the blanket.

"It's a waste of time." Lauren replied shaking her head. "The boost I get as a result of the effects of the Abath horn will lessen with each application so I need to make the most out of the early ones." The blonde's argument was as always prepared and logical. "I'll use this time when I'm most alert to assess Kenzi, let you know how she is doing, so you can have an appraisal you trust."

"I trust an opinion you recommended." Bo countered quickly shaking her head softly, reaching at the same time to gather Lauren's other hand, bringing the two together in both of her own. "Baby, I need you." She said the words in a strong devout whisper.

Lauren's trail of arguments stopped as her brown eyes suddenly came up to meet Bo's which were looking directly at her.

"You need to rest, please." The succubus repeated her earlier wish. "And while you're resting I need you to work on a puzzle for me." She added a soft incentive, the corner of her mouth curling up slightly into a smile as she watched Lauren's look of slight defeat turn into curiosity.

Putting both of Lauren's hands together under just one of her own Bo reached out with her free arm to the night stand by the bed and took from it the box that Trick had given her from the vault. She had placed it there when she had settled Lauren earlier, with some vague hope that by just being close to it the blonde would miraculously begin to feel better.

"I found out today that my great grandfather was an incubus." Bo began as she released both of Lauren's hands and cradled the old heirloom.

"Trick's father?" Lauren asked her curiosity obviously instantly piqued. The succubus shook her head, her smile bright, as once again she fell in love with Lauren a little bit more over her insatiable curiosity and love of knowledge and information.

"No, Isabeau... my grandmother's father." Bo explained.

"Bo, that's amazing." Lauren smiled brightly, her whole face lit up with excitement for the brunette. "I mean other than the fact that it's your family and that it's history, anything, any piece of information we get about your possible biological make up is essential, something as important as your genealogy is so key to fully understanding what you are. This is fantastic."

"There's more." Bo went on, more than happy that she had captured her lover's full attention. "His wife, Beatha, was a healer."

"A healer?" A very soft frown danced briefly across Lauren's brow. "What kind, did you find out? There are many types of fae with healing skills..." She began her words coming fast.

"Lauren, Lauren." Bo interrupted her with a broad smile. "Not what I was telling you for." She shook her head.

"Oh." The blonde stopped what had obviously going to be a full fledged babble on the varieties of healing fae.

"Another time though." Bo shifted her grip on the box in her lap to cup Lauren's cheek briefly. "I can listen to you talk all day." She added tenderly.

"Another time." Lauren nodded breathing softly as she leaned slightly to the soft touch before Bo pulled her hand back to re-grip the antique box.

"What I wanted to talk about, to show you was that together my grandparents created this." Bo carefully removed the lid from the box revealing the cerulean orb.

Lauren's eyes went from Bo's to the iridescent blue sphere that rested somehow, while at the same time not actually touching the nest of deep green velvet it was housed in.

"Bo, it's..." The blonde blinked. "Beautiful." She couldn't think of another word for the unique object she was looking at. "What is it? I mean it can't be what it looks like."

"It is." The succubus smiled.

"Stabilized universal Chi," Lauren blinked again and finally drew her eyes up to look at Bo. "I..." She shook her head. "I've never even heard of such a thing."

"Apparently people, humans, fae, donated their chi to my great grandparents who somehow made this." The succubus gave her lover the only explanation she had.

"My god Bo." The blonde shook her head obviously completely blown away simply by the fact this thing existed. "This is incredible."

"Yes, yes it is." Bo had to agree, though right now her attention was more on the look of awe on Lauren's face as the blonde gazed at the mystifying orb of chi. There was something extra beautiful about Lauren at that moment that Bo just couldn't explain, even if she was forced to. She was that distracted in fact that she had to physically shake her head to break the contact and remind herself of why she had started this. "And it's this that is my puzzle." She explained as she reached into the box and slipped her fingers under the sphere and teased it out onto her palm, moving the box safely back towards the end of the bed. "I mean like I told you I know who made it, I even sorta know how they did it, but what I need to know is how I use it to heal you." She looked at Lauren as she lightly passed the ball of life energy from one hand to the other, a soft trail of chi lingering on Bo's skin as it rolled, looking like a smoke trail almost across her hand.

"What? No." Lauren shook her head, doing her best to draw her eyes off the some what mesmerizing display. "Bo, you can't do that. This needs to be saved, preserved, studied."

"It was created to heal people Lauren." Bo continued to moved the orb between her hands. "Do you think maybe I touch you with it?"

Before Lauren could object Bo had lifted Lauren's closest hand up off the blanket, used her free hand to coax her fingers into a cup, before she lightly passed the orb into her lover's hand. The blonde made a small 'oh' sound, her brown eyes blinking rapidly as she looked from her hand to Bo's eyes and back.

"It's warm." The doctor's voice was full of breathless surprise.

"Uh-huh." Bo agreed with a nod. "Okay I don't think that's it." She added shaking her head as she reached out to take it back. As the succubus reached her fingers out towards the blue sphere soft blue tendrils of chi danced up to meet each and every digit. "Wait, it wasn't doing that before." Using just one finger, Bo pulled her hand up seeing just how far she could pull her hand back with a strand of chi still attaching her to the main orb. She gave up after reaching a distance of over a foot away with still a long stand of blue dancing between them.

"It seems very attached to you." Lauren made the soft cheesy comment with a smile her eyes transfixed on the pattern of blue that trailed between and around Bo's hands as the succubus brought both hands back to literally play with the dancing arcs of chi. "Are you hungry? Perhaps it's sensing a depletion in your natural level of Chi?" She suggested a wild theory.

"No, I don't feel hungry at all, especially when touching it." Bo noted to herself as much as to Lauren when she realized the dull ache of hunger she almost always felt was gone somehow. "I... this is going to sound weird but... I don't feel the urge to eat it." She eased it out of Lauren's hand for a moment and held it up between two fingers just looking at it, almost like a jewel.

"Well considering it's an ancient relic of who knows what kind of monumental importance, that's a good thing." Lauren teased. "I'd hate to a white notation card, next to that beautiful box in a museum, with the words 'Ancient stabilized universal Chi - only sample - circa 1100 - eaten by Bo 2012."

"You have a wicked sense of humour." Bo managed to tear her attention away from the orb for a moment looking back at Lauren as she moved to gather up the box and replace the orb safely inside. "So are you up to working on a solution to my puzzle?" She didn't replace the lid and just put the open box on the blanket in front of her lover.

"I don't know." Lauren frowned slightly and leaned forward, plucking the box off the comforter, not at all happy that this was a secure or stable resting place for it. "I'm not even sure where to begin." She admitted as she moved it to the more solid foundation of the side table. The orb itself seemed some how a more vibrant blue now, and as Lauren looked from it to Bo, she noticed how short tendrils of chi still drifted around her fingers, before seeming to melt into her skin. The image was strangely intoxicating.

Unconsciously Lauren licked her lips as her eyes travelled over Bo's body, finally reaching the succubus' face, by which time the blonde was positively flushed with desire. She blinked and cleared her throat trying to focus on something other than how much she suddenly wanted to kiss Bo.

Bo who had also been rather distracted by the very different behaviour from the orb, was suddenly literally blindsided by the flood of sexual energy that seemed to fill her lover. The succubus had become more or less used to being around Lauren who rarely dipped below a five on the 'wanting' level as far as her attraction level to Bo went. The mid level aura that surrounded her lover all the time brought with such a feeling of comfort to Bo that she knew it was one of the things that made her feel off kilter when the blonde wasn't around. But right now the blonde's aura was blindingly bright, a flat out, red lined ten on the want, no... need level.

"Lauren, you're... you're glowing." Bo whispered unable not to comment. The brightness of her lover's aura was so extreme that it was unlike anything she had ever experienced.

"In a way I don't normally?" Lauren focused hard to keep her words relevant but knew that they sounded a little strange. She just hoped Bo would understand what she meant by them, she was used to Bo describing to her how things looked through the eyes of a succubus.

"No." Bo shook her head as she moved finally to close some distance between them, "Yes." She contradicted herself with a confused frown. As the succubus had drawn closer to her lover the red hot glow around her had shifted slightly, subtly, and though it was almost complete as a halo around the beautiful blonde, the zone around her injured shoulder and arm was a cooler shade of orange.

The blonde felt her breathing shift into a shallower, faster rhythm as her lover drew closer to her. Bo's use of one word answers hadn't helped Lauren concentrate, especially as somehow to the blonde's mind the simple, 'No' and 'Yes' had sounded more breathy and aroused than anything, as if her lover had been directing her in something far more intimate than a question and answer session.

"I need to..." Bo, fixated on the break in the perfect corona of light around her lover's body shimmed up fully onto the bed and, without any thought that the blonde might object, she moved her hands to the side of the scrub top she was wearing, drawing it up and off Lauren's body in an easy move.

Lauren moaned softly closing her eyes as she tipped her head back slightly. The gentle arch of her back increased none too subtly as Bo moved behind her a little more, the white tank top the blonde had on beneath the scrubs top doing to hide the hard arousal in her breasts.

Still trying to focus, Bo peeled back the slightly bulky dressing covering Lauren's wounded shoulder and arm, revealing the inflamed still seeping scratches, the sight of them making her frown, for a second threatening to break the intoxicating spell.

"Bo..." It was the low whisper of the succubus' name from her lover's lips that instantly brought her back into the moment. The blonde reached back with her 'good' arm and entangled her fingers into Bo's hair and pulled her head forward guiding her towards her neck. The succubus rewarded the move by pressing her lips to the soft skin close to Lauren's pulse point, her nose light nuzzling the blondes ear.

"I love you." Bo whispered as she nuzzled the soft, overly warm skin. "When I say that, you know that I mean it don't you?"

In a move Bo wasn't expecting Lauren pulled away from her and turned around, capturing the succubus in the small space at the top of the bed. The blonde's eyes were bright with passion and desire as she licked her lips and let her gaze dance over Bo's body. The succubus felt a nearly overwhelming jolt of pleasure shudder through her body, just from the look on her lover's face, the arousal in her eyes.

In a bold move Lauren reached out and literally grabbed the front of Bo's jacket.

"Show me." She more or less demanded before pushing their lips together in a hard hot kiss.

Bo's arm was around Lauren's back, lifting her up a little off the mattress the next instant, her other hand moving to hold her head close as they kissed, while she pushed her lover backwards, down against the comforter. The blonde's hands fought to push open Bo's jacket and guide it off over her shoulders as the succubus peppered quick hot kisses over any and all exposed skin she could find. Nothing in Bo's had enough focus to even realize that in Lauren's condition this wasn't a good idea, that they should stop and identify why they had both been so suddenly and completely overwhelmed. But nothing was capable of making her stop kissing Lauren

"Too many clothes." Lauren's voice was a low demanding rumble as her hands slid down to flick open the button on Bo's pants, long fingers making quick easy work of the zipper.

With a groan of annoyed disappointment Bo rolled off the side of the bed almost ripping of her top and bra, kicking the loosened pants free of her legs and discarding her panties as quickly. She grabbed Lauren's scrubs pants and pulled them free of long legs with the same speed and dexterity before climbing straight back into position.

"So much better." The blonde groaned and she felt the press of Bo's body and felt the touch of her lips on her skin, the succubus kissed her way up the blonde's body dragging the white tank top with her, up off Lauren's torso and breasts, pulling it free off her head and tossing it away before closing her mouth over newly exposed skin.

Kisses turned to gentle nips, the succubus using her hand to tease as the pleasure they shared began to flare even higher. Lauren moaned loudly in pleasure, her body not even noting any pain that came from grinding her injured shoulder into the mattress, instead she arched her back harder, to press more of her body to Bo's mouth, her hands wrapped in her lovers hair pulling her tighter to her body.

Bo nipped, licked and sucked hungrily on warm excited flesh, her whole being seeming alive with energy and passion, her senses filled with Lauren in a way unlike anything she had ever experienced before, every move the blonde made, every sound, every shift in her breathing echoed and resonated inside the brunette.

If either woman had been willing, even for a second, to break the connection between them, to pay attention to anything other than each other, they may have noticed the subtle change that had happened off to the side of the bed, on the elegant antique side table. In its place where Lauren had placed it to be secure, Bo's great grandparents' 'gift' was no longer nestled against the old green velvet that secured it. Instead it hovered about four, maybe five inches above the fabric and was spinning over and over itself in a fast tumble. The very centre of the orb seeming to glow a brilliant shade of bright electric blue.

The came a loud surprised gasp from the bed as Bo suddenly found herself powered onto her side and then over onto her back, the dynamic of their love making changing as the blonde took the lead, a long leg sliding instantly between the succubus' as Lauren eased her body down on top of her lover. Bo cried out in satisfaction at the touch as she reached up and pushed blonde hair back off her lover's face so that she could see the passion and arousal in Lauren's eyes.

A strong smile spread across the blondes face as she looked down at Bo, watching as sparks of blue arced and flared across the usually dark brown eyes of her lover. The flashes of power more arousing to Lauren at that moment than they were disturbing as she leaned in and ravaged the succubus' neck with a series of hot fast kisses. Bo closed her eyes, a low growl of appreciation coming unbidden from her throat as Lauren reached to draw both of the succubus' arms up over her head, pinning them with one of her own up amongst the pillows.

Bending forward Lauren meshed their lips together for a long deep kiss, as Bo pushed and pressed her body up against the blonde, seeking as much friction and pressure as she could get. She tried vaguely to push against the simple hold that Lauren had on her hands, only to have the blonde press her back harder against the covers. A stronger smile spread across Bo's face as she looked as Lauren who pulled back from the intense passion filled kiss, flicking her hair back with a grin obviously happy to have 'captured' herself a succubus. Indeed Bo didn't even register the bright blue shade of the doctor's eyes as she leaned her head up as much as she could and kissed her back as hard as possible.

-x-


	25. Chapter 25

Disclaimers: All original property is owned by Showcase, and we do not infer that any characters, creations or the concept of 'Lost Girl' are our property and the following fan fiction has been written purely for entertainment purposes only.

Pairings: Bo/Lauren Set directly after our story "Faeral", the third story in an AU plot line.

Rating: M (Contains scenes of violence, sexuality and nudity)

**Faery Tale: Chapter Twenty-Five**

By: The Rainbowwriters

The stillness that filled the main room of the Dal was by no means comforting or easy. Even though the soft lighting provided by the myriad of candles, and the soothing scent of burning herbs that was coming from a small bowl on the bar top suggested that anyone in the room should be enjoying a sense of ease and relaxation.

In a darker alcove set close to the back of the bar area, Thistle sat, her hands working with speed and precision, as she braided long strands of what looked like vine, with a thicker coarser rope like material. She stopped occasionally to add a bead, crystal or feather to the intricate strand before continuing as she had before. All the while her lips moved in silent incantations as the strands passed through her hands and fingers.

In stark contrast to the harvester's focused busyness was Dyson's lack of it. The tall shifter sat perched on the bar stool at Kenzi's bed side, one hand up on the bed, resting over the young woman's bandaged arm very lightly. One might be forgiven for thinking he was a statue, except for the fact that occasionally his soft eyes panned across to watch the harvester at work, before turning back to look at the sleeping girl in the bed beside him.

For her part Kenzi had seemed to rest fairly peacefully since Bo had left her side to go and talk to Thistle, though in someways it was hard to tell as the bindings that held her body safely secured minimized her movement to the extreme. The only thing that really showed any fluctuations were the monitors built into the bed and the two that were set up behind it. Even those though had seemed to just pump out regular 'acceptable' results.

So much so that they had almost become background noise in the large open space. The consistency of them enough even to make the large fae doctor back away from his patient more or less all together. Dr. Trebecker having taking a seat at the bar, taking the time to go over the results from the last few hours, the time that Kenzi had been at the Dal.

Slowly and with a soft groan it became obvious that Kenzi's latest period of unconsciousness was up. Keeping her eyes closed she took a moment to discern what she could from just lying there in silence. The first thing she assessed was easy. She still felt like hell, though credit to whatever fae drugs she was getting, she couldn't say her body actually hurt at this precise moment in time. It just felt heavy, almost in fact alien to her, like she was in it but didn't actually own it, couldn't make it do anything.

The next thing that was easy to focus on was the smell of Dyson. He was close, a thought that instantly made her feel a little better. When she had been so sick before waking up alone was one of the scariest things about it.

Taking a slightly deeper breath, as much as her bindings would allow Kenzi then let the essence of what was 'the Dal' consume her. A place that she should probably feel afraid in, being a human, but had never felt that way. Not since the first time she had entered, beside Bo, when Trick had announced to everyone to back off. She had felt untouchable that moment, which helped at this moment because she felt safe at the Dal despite all that was going on.

"Hey Dyson." Kenzi still didn't open her eyes, saying his name quietly. The soft enquiry drew no response from the sentinel. "Hey wolf man it's rude to ignoring the dying." She tried again, this time a little louder, her blue eyes slowly opening

"I'm not ignoring you and you're not dying." Dyson shifted on his perch a little so he could see her easily. He moved a hand up to brush at her damp bangs. "Do you need something?"

"Yeah a vodka, you gonna get me one?" Kenzi made the joke softly the tongue slipping out in an attempt to wet her dry lips.

"I'll buy you a whole case as soon as you're well enough." He promised, his voice soft as he smiled at her.

"Yeah about that..." The young woman breathed in too deeply without thinking about it and groaned in pain. "You want to tell a crazy human who has more than once done something dumb for your ass, what's going on?"

Quick lines of disquiet creased on Dyson's forehead for a moment as he tried to think of where to start, what to say.

"Dyson please." Kenzi groaned, pressing her head a little back into the pillow. "I might do dumb things but I am not stupid. What is wrong with me? It's something huge, that much is obvious." She let her blue eyes roll a little to highlight the high tech medical bed. "Don't hold out on me."

"I know you want the truth from me." The wolf admitted with a soft sigh. "But.." He frowned more pronouncedly and shook his head.

"But what?" Kenzi pushed. "But you can't tell me because it's so horrible? You said I wasn't going to die, a girl might have believed you." She let the air out of her lungs in a soft sad huff.

"You're not going to die." Dyson moved his other hand off Kenzi's arm and took hold of her hand. "It's just I don't know how much I should tell you, how much you should know. What Bo would want me to tell you." He explained more.

"I don't see Bo-Bo here right now so why don't you just tell me everything you think I should know without putting her in the picture." The young woman offered.

"A ghoul is trying to take possession of your body." Dyson spelled out with his next breath. "It's inside you trying to fight against you."

"Wow, I'll eat anything." Kenzi made the soft attempt at humour, but didn't pursue it when she saw the look on Dyson's face.

"It came from your encounter with the Norn." He went on, giving Kenzi more of an explanation for the look on his face. "Why didn't you tell me?" He added in a soft pained whisper. "You crazy little thing." He brushed her damp forehead again.

"I guess I need to work on my sharing skills." Kenzi offered with a soft apologetic smile, her eyes closing a little under the touch. For a long moment she just lay in silence at Dyson held her hand lightly in his own. "What happens now?"

"We get it out." The wolf summed up. "That is Thistle does. That's why she's here." He explained more thoroughly.

"Ghoul extractor, now that's a specific kind of job." Kenzi's voice was a little weaker as her strength ebbed slightly.

"Kenzi, what you will go through, it won't be like anything else you have ever experienced..." Dyson began.

"Oh I don't know D-man, I did some whacky shit on the streets." Her smile was uneven.

"I'm not sure I even want to think about that." He actually smiled this time. "Seriously Kenzi, you have to stay strong. Remember who you are, who we are. Remember to fight for what you want, what you love." He urged her, his voice and tone unusually emotional.

"Woo there wolfie, talk like that could scare a girl." Kenzi curled her fingers around his hand. "This new fae, Thistle, she's good right? Like the best ghoul extractor you guys could find? You trust her." She pushed for at least that kind of encouragement.

"She is..." Dyson took a slight breath as he thought how to word his reply. "She will fight as hard as any one of us would to help you. She has given Bo her word and she would not break that."

"It's just her eyes that are freaky then." Kenzi summed up letting her own eyes close.

"They see more than any of us." Dyson said oddly cryptically. "Rest now, you need your strength for the ritual.

Kenzi seemed to settle back against the bed again, happy at least to have had her main question addressed, when she slowly eased one eye open again and looked at Dyson.

"Don't leave me this time shit head." She said with a smirk.

"I'm not going anywhere." He put both of his hands around hers, gripping it harder than maybe he should have. "Not this time."

-x-

The temperature in the ornately decorated and lovingly furnished bedroom beneath the main rooms of the Dal was at least three or four degrees warmer than anywhere else in the way station. What was normally a room of strict order, looked more dishevelled and disorganized than it possibly had for a long while.

The first obvious 'atrocity' was a tangled heap of dark green cloth that was strewn in a messy heap on the floor in front of the beautifully carved, obviously antique armoire. Upon closer inspection this mound of fabric was actually the ornate hunter green crushed velvet throw, emblazoned with the McCorrigan coat of arms, hand stitched in golden thread, that had once been so carefully draped over the sleigh style double bed that dominated the centre of the room.

Then between this the first casualty and the bed, were several items of discarded clothing, a leather jacket, a boot, a pair of scrubs pants, another boot and so it went on, all randomly thrown onto the polished and buffed redwood floor, or strewn on one of the tapestry like rugs that were neatly and strategically placed at the sides and foot of the bed.

Some of the last more obvious losers in the 'battle of the bedroom' were the elegant, fringed pillows that normally rested neatly up along the top of the Blood King's bed. The two long cylindrical shaped cushions were covered with a rich green fabric, the patten a complex mixture of the family crest and other runic symbols. Gold tassel hung off each end in a last token of decadence. Now however one was stood on its end, jammed down between the bed and the night stand, and the other was missing completely, though a slim trail of gold thread leading under the bed, gave a hint as to where it had rolled to at some point in time.

Oblivious to all of this however, was the brunette who was lying on her back on the beautiful antique sleigh bed, one hand thrown up onto the plain cream pillow under her head, the other reached out to lay across the soft creamy coloured breasts of the blonde who lay beside her. Both women were breathing rather raggedly, though the grin on Bo's face was anything but tired.

"Okay," The succubus managed to settle her breathing enough to talk. "That was..." She paused just to think of an adequate term, failing she settled for what worked. "New, really really wonderful, but new." She shifted a little from being flat on her back to turning onto her side to actually look at Lauren.

The blonde had one arm hung low over her body, across her stomach, it rose and fell with each of her fast breaths. Her other hand had been on Bo's arm, but as the succubus shifted onto her side and moved her hand off her lovers breasts she put it down on top of her other one.

"Yes." Lauren turned her head to look Bo. "Wow." The word sounding very strange coming from the usually eloquent doctor.

"You know any time you want to bring 'Now Bo, Harder, right there Lauren' out to play in the future, is fine by me." Bo slid her hand onto Lauren's on her stomach, interlacing their fingers.

A hot embarrassed blush filled Lauren's cheeks.

"Hey no blushing," Bo pressed up briefly from where her head had been resting on the pillow to kiss Lauren's cheek. "It's a good thing, that... that was a very good thing." The succubus stressed the word 'very' with a flare of her eyes. "Take charge Lauren is sexy, so sexy." She dropped a second kiss, this time on Lauren's shoulder, before resting her head back on the pillow.

The blonde kept her eyes on her lover as she spoke, the embarrassment she had initially felt dimming instantly.

"Though..." A soft smirk pulled at Bo's lips for a moment as she shook her head slightly.

"What?" Lauren frowned instantly a little worried.

"In my grandfather's bed." The succubus gave a soft giggle as she squeezed Lauren's hand. "Dr. Lewis..." She winked.

"Oh god..." The blush instantly returned to Lauren's cheeks as she looked around desperately for a sheet, anything to cover herself, as if somehow that would make it better.

Bo laughed brightly from her place beside her as the blonde rolled on her side away from the succubus to gather up the something to cover at least part of her. The only thing within arms reach was one of the extra pillows that had been tossed off the bed at some point. She grabbed it and held it to her body making Bo laugh a little harder.

"Some help you are." Lauren playfully scowled as she shifted her grip on the pillow and lightly batted the succubus with it. "This is horrible of me, Trick let me stay here because of everything that is going on and I..."

"Lauren it was hardly just you." Bo scooted to sit up as her lover had, pausing for a moment to reach out to pick up something off the mattress where Lauren had been laying. "Now that can't have been comfortable to be laying on." She held up her hair slide.

"Didn't notice." Lauren shook her head honestly, but then blinked. "Wait...do I remember pulling your hair, like hard, really hard?" A quizzical frown danced on the blonde's face.

"No." Bo reached to put the metal hair slide on the nightstand but as she turned to look at Lauren again there was a huge grin on her face. "Maybe." She amended her initial answer. "I didn't mind." She changed it again.

"Urgh." Lauren rolled her head back a little and shook it. "You think this is funny don't you?" She asked fixing Bo with her brown eyes.

"A little." Bo admitted honestly resulting in a soft huff from Lauren. "Hey..." She added reaching out to put her hand on Lauren's arm and turning her to face her a little more. "It's okay, what we did, well no it was amazing but what I mean is..." The brunette floundered a little.

"I know what you mean." Lauren smiled softly. "But still I should, we should..." She glanced around the room. "Okay, step one, clothes." Putting the pillow down beside her, Lauren turned her back to Bo as she eased to the edge of the bed.

Bo went to follow suit but stopped instantly.

"Lauren." The succubus' voice was completely different to the soft playful tone that it had been before. Bo then pushed up onto her knees on the bed and moved over to Lauren who had stopped in place. Reaching up Bo gathered Lauren's hair with one hand moving it off her bare shoulders before passing her hand of the soft cream coloured skin. "Your shoulder."

The blonde reached her hand to the zone, her finger tips feeling for the ridges of broken skin but finding instead just flawless warm flesh.

Moving off the bed completely Bo came around to where Lauren was standing, giving her a full look over. Even as Lauren just stood there, her fingers running over and over where there had once been the long angry track marks on her arm. A look of complete non-comprehension was fixed on her face.

"I don't..." She began.

"How do you feel?" Bo asked her voice filling with something like hysteria, but not from fear or worry but excitement.

"I don't know... I..." Lauren paused, she hadn't thought about it. It had just been all about them and making love and then... the blonde did a quick self assessment. She knew that after taking the tea some of the body ache and fever that had filled her body had eased, but she had still had a lot of pain in her shoulder and head. Now though there was nothing. Her arm felt fine, her head was clear, she didn't even feel feverish. "You healed me?" She looked at Bo, her face a mixture of awe and disbelief.

"No, I mean Lauren if I could do that I would have but I can't." Bo shook her head.

"You must have, it's the only explanation, what did you do?" Lauren gently pushed the succubus to think harder about what had happened.

"Lauren I didn't do anything. We made love." She clarified what had so recently taken place. "Technically, a lot of the time I just did what you told me to do."

"This doesn't make any sense." The blonde shook her head her mind spinning slightly as she moved a little away from Bo, but only so she could actually start gathering the clothes they both needed. "How could..."

"The orb." Bo suddenly interjected, her eyes, having panned across the room initially to locate her outfit, and landed on the antique box which held the delicate looking sphere. A sphere that, though looking a little duller than it had before, was just as awe inspiring and beautiful as ever. The succubus reached to pick up the box, the centre of the orb instantly glowing again the second her hand came closer.

Lauren crossed back over to where the succubus was stood, the lines of confusion on her face clearing a little as she looked between Bo and the box in her hand. The electric blue centre of the sphere being echoed by bright flashes in the succubus' eyes.

"When we were making love," Lauren remembered suddenly. "Your eyes were blue."

"What?" Bo looked up shaking her head. "No, I mean... that's only when I feed... The chi..." Bo frowned slightly at her lover. "I don't feed off you." She stated clearly.

"You weren't feeding." Lauren shook her head a wild theory turning in her mind as she stepped a little closer to the succubus. "I don't know for sure and I have no idea how, but..." She stopped just short of the brunette. "I think you took chi from the orb and used it to heal me as if you were healing yourself."

"What?" Bo just blinked in stunned shock.

"This is..." Lauren looked up into her lover's eyes, her own eyes filled with wonder and awe. "Unheard of, unbelievable." A smile of pure love filled the blonde's face. "Bo," She reached out and ran her over dark hair. "You're amazing." She shook her head a little obviously completely taken aback by the whole situation. She drew her hand down over Bo's shoulder and arm, then brought both of her hands to cover the succubus' where she held the box. As she did so the orb inside seemed to glow a slightly brighter shade of blue.

"I don't know about that." Bo shook her head. Though there was no denying that something definitely miraculous had happened, the succubus wasn't convinced that it was all because of her.

"I do." Lauren quickly countered her lover's comment. "I'll have to do tests." She moved back from Bo to gather the last of their clothes. "On me for once not you." She added with a smile over her shoulder at the brunette.

"Now?" Bo asked putting the box aside again for the moment, the succubus' tone changed from the positive up beat one that it had been to something more distracted and almost disappointed. It was as Lauren pulled on her scrubs top that she keyed in to the most likely reason for the change in her lover's mood.

"When Kenzi is better." She carried the succubus clothes to the bed, putting them down on it. "I'm not going anywhere Bo." She added. "Apart from upstairs to check on how my favourite patient is doing."

Bo's look of relief was stunning.

"How do you always know just the right thing to say?" The brunette smiled at her lover with a look of pride as she pulled on her pants.

"Because I know your heart." Lauren replied without hesitation.

Bo laughed softly and nodded in confirmation as she pulled on her top, flicking her hair out of the edge of it.

"I can't believe..." Bo suddenly stopped and looked at Lauren. "Look at you." She crossed quickly to the blonde who was now dressed and had even managed to make her hair look presentable. "Oh Lauren." She pulled her lover close in a tight embrace, holding her, her eyes closing as she just let the feeling of a whole, healthy Lauren fill her being. Lauren said nothing, just held her lover back tenderly. "Sorry." Bo apologized after a long moment stepping back slightly.

"No need." Lauren shook her head smiling softly. "Let's wash up and get back to Kenzi." She offered a plan of action, looking off towards the door as she bent down to rescue the lost decorative pillow.

"Actually I have to leave Kenzi in your capable hands for a while, not long, I just have to find something and our dear friend The Ash is my first port of call." Bo agreed to the idea to move, but not on their destinations.

"You're going to the compound? What do you need?" Lauren asked as pulled the other pillow out from where it was wedged.

"Well I'm hoping that Hale has, or can get me some iridium." Bo explained moving as her lover was to surface tidy the room. "Apparently its old and rare and has mystical qualities that Thistle thinks she can use to seal the vulnerable point in Kenzi's soul aura thing." She plumped up a regular feather pillow that had gotten particularly squashed. "I'm hoping he has an old bangle or something lying around somewhere." She smiled at Lauren with a soft eye roll. "Apparently old fae families like to use it for jewelry."

"They do." Lauren nodded, for some reason her smile brighter than Bo as she stopped what she was doing and moved back to her lover's side. "They also use it to make pendants of ownership." Her smile turned into a positive beam as she stopped in front of Bo. The succubus' brown eyes came up, first meeting her lover's eyes and then dropped a little to the chain around her neck.

"You mean..." With her hand slightly shaking Bo reached out and slipped her fingers under the amulet that laid against Lauren's skin.

The blonde merely smiled that 'oh so Lauren' smile and gave a single simple nod.

-x-


	26. Chapter 26

Disclaimers: All original property is owned by Showcase, and we do not infer that any characters, creations or the concept of 'Lost Girl' are our property and the following fan fiction has been written purely for entertainment purposes only.

Pairings: Bo/Lauren Set directly after our story "Faeral", the third story in an AU plot line.

Rating: M (Contains scenes of violence, sexuality and nudity)

**Faery Tale: Chapter Twenty-Six**

By: The Rainbowwriters

As Bo entered the main area of the Dal, she found that everyone was still in the same relative positions that she'd left them in. Dyson was still keeping his vigil by Kenzi's bedside, and his eyes had come up to meet hers briefly, telling her that her best friend was still resting as comfortably as she could. Her grandfather was back behind his bar, seeming to be more comfortable there but Bo could just feel his agitation as she followed his eye line to where Thistle was working in the corner.

The harvester was now standing and the creation that the two men had been watching her weave was now draped across a long table. The harvester was just finishing weaving crossways strands into the longer ones that she had laid out in parallel lines on the table top. Her fingers worked quickly to add the last few feathers and beads before she did a slow walk around the table to appraise her handiwork.

Though Bo was now running on the positive adrenaline that Lauren's miraculous healing had caused, along with the added bonus of having her lover's ownership pendant gripped tightly in her hand to satisfy the harvester's added request, seeing Kenzi made all of the indescribable tension of the situation overwhelm her again. Taking a breath, she moved directly over to where Thistle was.

"Thistle." She called for the harvester's attention when the small woman didn't immediately address her but instead fiddled with one of the link points between the woven strands.

"Yes Bo?" Thistle's red eyes didn't come up from her work. She picked up what looked like a long curled piece of an exotic dried grass from a bowl within reach, using her nail to slice a small slot into one end, she used the two sided end to secure the grass to the weave at what could have been random places to the untrained eyes, but the placement was very specific to her.

The succubus' initial urge to just hand over Lauren's necklace was derailed slightly as her brown eyes swept over the somewhat overwhelming creation laid out over the table.

"What is that?" She asked pointing to the mass of woven decorated strands. If it wasn't for the situation and setting Bo would have sworn it was an art installation taken directly out of one of the down town galleries.

"This..." Thistle's hand stilled mid action and looked up at her as if appraising how to explain. "Is an essence weave." She stood up looking at Bo squarely. "I will secure it over Kenzi during the harvest." She ran her hand down one long strand. "It helps me perform my task in many ways." She explained more as she twisted one of the ornate shells within the strand, "Firstly as I create each strand I recite into it the words of the 'éaraid', imbuing it with the power of magical hindrance. Then as I turn the strands into a weave, together they form a web or mesh that both weakens the magical properties of the soul based invader, in this case the ghoul Septima, and forms a barrier around your friend so that when harvested from her, the freed essence of the ghoul cannot free itself from the containment. It also acts as a barrier, protecting Kenzi from essence or soul based attacks during the procedure, when she is, as you can imagine, most vulnerable."

"Wow, usually when I ask a question about anything like that, I get a book passed to me, lots of long often unintelligible, often foreign words and no actual answer. You just actually explained and more than that I almost understood everything you said." Bo let her eyes trace over the weave again, noting to herself it was actually quite beautiful even though woven into the strands there were the small animal and bird skulls, and a few other things she just didn't have a clue about.

"You are fae, this is a part of what and who you are, there is no reason for you to be confused by anything in the world that you want to understand. And I, well I have nothing to hide." Thistle admitted with a soft smile but the glance that she threw at the bar was not so friendly, leaving no one in the room who saw it any doubt as to who she judged to be the biggest offender of providing the succubus with such half truths or mis-information.

"I guess this means you're almost ready to start?" Bo finally drew her attention off the complicated creation and focused solely on the harvester. Thistle met the succubus look with a soft nod. "Will giving you this delay things?" Brown eyes positively sparkled as Bo raised her hand and released her fingers from the death grip she had on the pendant, which left an imprint of itself on her palm. She let is just dangle from her index finger between them.

"My... you are a resourceful little girl." Thistle actually smiled, an odd facial expression considering her red eyes, as she moved over to take the offering in both hands, the pendant in one and the necklace in the other. She turned it over and over between her fingers. "This will do nicely, it is pure, hand cast." She acknowledged the hum that was given off by the metal was genuine and strong as she used her fae senses. "Unaltered."

Bo smiled brighter, glancing at Dyson, who frowned ever so slightly having turned to see what the Succubus had handed over to Thistle.

"Was it given freely?" Thistle checked as she moved to place it in a small carved wooden bowl among the items she had around her. "The ire of the Ash is not something you wish to invite." She added knowing that while she was already officially on the light fae hit list, Bo was not, yet.

"It was."

The confirmation came from the far end of the Dal, where Lauren had just arrived in time to hear the comment. She looked very much like Lauren ready for war, her way. She was in fresh green scrubs and a lab coat, her hair tied back in a high pony tail, leaving no trace of blonde anywhere near her face. She looked at the same time older and yet younger, but either way stunningly beautiful and incredibly confident. Clearly the Doctor was ready for her part of this fight, and she had no intention of doing anything less than everything she could to help Kenzi's physically through the ceremony.

However even as Bo grinned proudly at her, Trick just stared at her almost in shock of the transformation the blonde had undergone since he'd last checked on her downstairs. He knew somehow that the Abath horn could not have caused this rebound. Like the bartender, Dyson seemed confused by the healthy looking blonde. Even though he hadn't seen Lauren in the throws of her increasing sickness, he knew what she should look like and this wasn't it.

Thistle's reaction to Lauren's arrival was the most important however, as the woman's eyes merely narrowed as she stared at the blonde for the entire time it took her to walk across the bar to her lover. Even as Bo leaned in to kiss Lauren's cheek, reliving the joy of knowing the blonde was cured, Thistle's eyes continued to bore into the blonde's body.

"What... who are you?" Thistle finally asked the question, her voice low but her tone was hard and cold.

"I'm sorry?" Lauren looked at her, frowning slightly as she caught Bo's expression that was as confused as her own. "My name is Dr. Lauren Lewis, I thought you had been told about me."

Thistle's eyes widened a little and stepped back from the pair of them, as a strange low hiss emanating from her throat. Even though there was no true physical transformation, Bo could feel a change in the air as Thistle's eyes glowed brighter as she seemed to peer into and through Lauren's whole being.

"Thistle." Bo said the other fae's name in both question and warning as she stepped more in front of Lauren almost to defend her.

Not answering the succubus Thistle's eyes shifted over to where the Blood King stood at the bar.

"You.." The harvester's hiss was coarser still. "You did this, didn't you?" She demanded, her focus solely on him now. "With your cursed blood."

"You need to stay focused Harvester." Trick bit back at her authoritatively, trying to dissuade her from whatever friction she was trying to cause.

"Hypocrite." Thistle spat at him. "When did the Blood King become that which he cursed to oblivion?"

"How dare you question The Blood King." Dyson's voice answered her question, loudly warning her off her assault on the smaller man as the wolf stood up.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Bo demanded to know, not sure exactly how Lauren entering into the room had caused all of this.

The succubus' voice seemed to bring Thistle at least a little back to the 'normal' state that she had shown them so far. Blinking she looked at Bo something akin to a regretful frown dancing over her features.

"You don't know." She said her tone sad as she dropped her head, looking down. "Of course you don't, there is no way for you know." When she looked back up it was to once again stare at the Blood King. "Were you ever going to tell her, or simply wait until you had no choice?"

Trick met her eyes and took a breath obviously trying to decided on his words of come back, while at the same time trying to keep a sliver of his attention on Dyson. The last thing they needed was the wolf to stepping out of line and adding to the tension. It was as he considered his options that Thistle latched on to a brief meeting of their eyes.

"Wait..." The harvester's eyes widened. "You don't know, you don't know what you have done, what you have made her." She flung her head back and snarled, the deep angry noise sounding for a moment like an animal. "You imbecile, you brattish, impudent child." Her eyes came back to bore almost through Trick.

"I did what I had to do." Trick retaliated almost more to Thistle's tone than her words. "During the fight with the Garuda, it was necessary for me to use my blood to change her fate." He underlined staring back at her. "That is all."

"How?" She demanded. "What did you do old man? Scribble down words you remembered from old scrolls you stole from my family and druids like them before you tossed them onto their funeral pyres?" She glowered at him. "Necromancer!" She hissed the word as if it were poison itself.

Despite being watched, Dyson was of course the first to react, his body growing bigger while his fangs came out and his eyes yellowed.

"Hold your tongue! You are here for one purpose, not for your appraisal of the Blood King." Dyson slurred the words at her in warning, making sure he moved so he was in between her and any direct path to the bartender.

"STOP!" Bo shouted. "Everyone stop!" She underlined, her firm voice flat and calm despite everything. "First you." She turned specifically to Dyson. "Shut that shit down." She snarled the words at him, not an inch of give in her tone or in her eyes as she stared him down. The instant flare reaction from him just reminding her all too easily of how he had been when he was out of control and right now that worried more than any words that were being thrown around.

Drawing in a rather ragged breath through his open mouth Dyson forced himself to ease out of the partial change and take a step back.

"Okay now." She turned her attention to Thistle. "What are you talking about?"

The harvester took the opportunity that the succubus' interaction with the wolf had given her to centre herself a little and focus. She took some small step backwards and did her best to appear at least more calm.

"I apologize." She looked up very briefly but didn't quite meet Bo's eyes. "The shifter is correct I was brought here for one purpose alone, not for my counsel in other matters."

"Okay look." Bo let her breath come out in a loud angry huff as she stepped a little closer to the harvester but still kept herself in front of Lauren.

One thing Bo had appreciated about Thistle so far was that unlike so many fae she had met, the harvester didn't try and answer her with rhetoric or side stepping and she wasn't about to let her start now. Not only that obviously Thistle 'knew' something about Lauren which in turn meant three things to Bo. Those being; (1) there was something to know; (2) That 'something' was probably something bad; and (3) It needed fixing.

"I don't care what brought you through the front door, what I care about is there..." She pointed to Kenzi on the bed. "And here." She turned and looked at Lauren. "Now you don't get to have that reaction over one of those two people without giving me some kind of explanation." Everything about Bo's stance and tone oozed confidence and entitlement. "Quickly." She added with a quick tweak of her eyebrow.

"My issue..." Thistle began seeming to have taken Bo's dressing down with good grace. "Is that he..." Thistle flicked her eyes briefly towards Trick. "Harvested her soul."

"Yeah, I got that that was part of the whole deal but Thistle, The Garuda broke her neck, my grandfather used his blood to bring her back to life." Bo's tone softened as she looked over to Trick with a soft smile. "He gave me back my heart." She added even softer stepping back again to slip her hand into Lauren's, though all the while the blonde just seemed to stand watching the conversation in stunned silence.

"Your Grandfather is a powerful, powerful Fae." Watching Bo's move the anger dropped completely from Thistle's voice. That mixed with the innocence in the succubus' words, which sadly confirmed to her that she really had no idea at all what she was really even eluding too. "And his blood may have been strong enough to forge an unwanted peace between the light and the dark fae, even strong enough to maintain that peace for all these years but not even the great and powerful King of the Blood cannot pull back the veil of death, see through the darkness of the inbetween to the bright beyond, to then reach in and guide a single pinprick of light back home." She spoke the words very clearly, wanting the basic fact to be understood.

"You don't know what his blood is capable of." Dyson stuck himself back into the active situation, unable to stand by and allow anyone, let alone a fugitive Harvester, belittle the great fae.

"I know more of his power then you could understand if given another thousand years to try wolf." Thistle met the shifter's eyes without any fear of him visible. "And I believe you were already told to behave."

The words were worse than a slap in the face to the normally independent wolf, made worse by the fact that it was a Harvester that was making the demeaning appraisal of him. He knew her eyes were seeing things he couldn't, even with his superior vision, and that sight made it very clear to her that he was not what he had once been.

Bo had listened to the short exchange, her mind reeling with the new information. She looked over her shoulder again towards Trick and was not comforted by the fact that his head was down, his hand drawing a cloth over and over the worn bar top in a tight controlled circle.

"Wait." The succubus put together everything that had been said so far and felt the hand that Lauren wasn't holding begin to shake. "You're saying Trick used your magic, harvester magic to bring Lauren back?" She questioned in a hesitant voice.

"What I am telling you is that that is what he tried." For the first time, Thistle glanced at Trick and gave a sad shake of her head. "I'm not even sure even he truly knows what he did."

"Then you tell me." Bo's voice was flat and uncertain, though demanding at its core.

"You grandfather harvested her soul." Thistle repeated the words, her voice hollow.

"Okay, which is what you said you would do to Kenzi, harvest the soul, separate it from the ghoul and then put her back?" Bo tried to follow along, knowing that it didn't make sense. After all there had been no other essence in Lauren, no competing ghoul that wanted her body. She had simply been killed by the simple motion of the Garuda's powerful hand, and Trick had brought her back to life. "What does it matter if Trick harvested her soul and put it back in her body? She's alive, she wasn't meant to die." She pleaded out the facts she knew were true.

"No, I said I would be harvesting the Ghoul's essence not Kenzi's. Kenzi's essence, I am here to free, not enslave." Thistle pointed out the difference slowly. "Your Grandfather used the ways he had once decried to harvest her soul from the beyond, the place of death. He found it, claimed it and anchored it back to this realm preventing it from ever travelling back to the beyond. At the same time he must have willed that her body be healed, the damage that caused her essence to leave the vessel repaired so that it was functional again. Then because the essence he harvested was a perfect fit for the body that he had fixed, with more of his blood he forced to the two together again. Made the essence merge with the flesh again in some semblance of normality, in a semblance of life." Her explanation continued slowly. "But her body is human, it is fragile and will one day fail as the body of all humans do. When it does however, because of what your Grandfather has done, her soul will never escape from the tether he created here."

Bo had tried to take in what the ancient fae was telling her but to be honest on face value it didn't make a lot of sense to her. She looked again at Lauren, whose face had become more and more unreadable as she stayed silent despite the conversation being about her.

"What does any of that mean?" Bo finally asked the 'stupid' question but she felt more lost now then she had before Thistle began her explanation.

The basics that she had gleamed was that Trick had used his blood to bring Lauren back and that his actions could be chopped up into a couple of complicated steps. But considering that what they were talking about was the fact that her Grandfather had brought her lover back to life, wasn't that bound to be complicated. She had still been flying high on the elation that Lauren wasn't going to die of an ancient plague and now this newcomer was talking about soul harvesting and tethers.

"It means that your Grandfather had condemned her to eternal existence." Thistle kept her eyes on Trick, seeing the way that the news made the small man lean heavier on the bar. "When her body dies she will be left as a formless essence." Her eyes came back to Bo and a frown pulled at her usually neutral mouth. "What one of her kind would call a ghost. She will exist in the world, but not be capable of interacting with it."

For the first time Bo looked back at her grandfather to see his reaction and was disheartened when he wouldn't meet her eyes. The older man seemed to be staring down at his hands on the bar top, clearly trying to make sense of what he was being told as much as the succubus herself was.

"No." Bo shook her head and brought her other hand to cover Lauren's with both of hers. "That is not happening, how do we fix it?" She looked back at Thistle giving up on the idea of him meeting her eyes.

"As the wolf underlined, I was summonsed here for one job and one job alone." Her eyes moved to look at Lauren. "My sympathies lie with you Lauren." She spoke the words solemnly to the blonde, and gave a soft nod of her head in sympathy. "A human brave enough to face the Garuda did not deserve this mismanaged reward."

The blonde was about to finally say something to the direct address when Bo cut her off.

"Is that you saying you can't or you won't help fix this?" Bo's voice was almost accusatory in her outrage over what she had just found out, especially with the way that Thistle was apologizing to Lauren about what Trick had done.

"Neither." Thistle shook her head. "Merely that that is not what I was brought here to do." She summed up softly. "Truly I did not mean to bring news that you neither knew or were unprepared for." She added looking at Bo and for a moment seeming to be truly apologetic. "I can see within you a difference that is in itself a reason for me to have hope for the future, hope for both Fae and Humans." She looked back at Lauren and then down at Kenzi. "But we have one before us who needs me more then any other." She again came a rare almost tender smile at Kenzi's sleeping form. "My focus in all honesty right now, must be on her."

At the mention of her best friend a little of Bo's indignation and anger dimmed, especially since Thistle was the only chance that Kenzi had right now, but at the same time...

It was Lauren who interrupted the the confusing dilemma running though the core of Bo's being, as she gave Bo's hand a soft squeeze before easing her hand out of the clasp and moved towards Kenzi's bedside.

"I want to do a full medical check on her before you start, it will only take a few minutes, if that's alright." The blonde's voice was polite, even and professional as she stood up close to the side of the medical bed.

Thistle nodded gently and stepped back towards the corner she had been working in.

For a long moment Bo just stood rather stupidly in her place as Lauren instantly began working, Dyson moved to check on Trick and Thistle poked at a strand of the weave. Spurring herself into action Bo crossed over to Thistle.

"Listen, I know I don't know anything about the past, what was done to you or your kind, but I do know that right now you are the only one who has any clue of what is going on with the two most important people in my life and I swear to you, if you help Kenzi and then tell me how to free Lauren from a cursed eternity that I don't really understand, I will stand by you and proudly call you a friend." Bo felt her chest heave a little as she made her emotional plea to the ancient harvester. "And though I might seem like an ignorant young child in terms of the fae and your ways, I promise you I can be a very valuable ally." All the while she held Thistle's red eyes having found a way to discern the same emotions and cues from them that you could from normal eyes, it was subtle but could be gauged.

Thistle smiled slightly at her, impressed by Bo's loyalty and honesty.

"Let us take this first step together before planning the rest of our lives." The harvest said with a nod. "But know this, no true harvester would walk away from a human in need and I am and will always be, a true harvester."

-x-


	27. Chapter 27

Disclaimers: All original property is owned by Showcase, and we do not infer that any characters, creations or the concept of 'Lost Girl' are our property and the following fan fiction has been written purely for entertainment purposes only.

Pairings: Bo/Lauren Set directly after our story "Faeral", the third story in an AU plot line.

Rating: M (Contains scenes of violence, sexuality and nudity)

**Faery Tale: Chapter Twenty-Seven**

By: The Rainbowwriters

It wasn't that Lauren hadn't been affected by anything that had just taken place in the Dal, far from it in fact. Her introduction to Thistle and the resulting revelations both horrified and mystified her, but she also knew that at that moment the 'new' things weren't going to be addressed and Kenzi needed direct and timely intervention. She also dealt better with things by keeping busy, it gave her less time to dwell, especially if she didn't have facts to dwell on. As far as everything about her 'resurrection' was concerned, facts were the last thing any of them seemed to have, except possibly the harvester and that just led back around to the Kenzi point of her argument. That had been why the blonde had taken the slight opportunity that had presented itself to break up the tension filled conflict that was by its own design going nowhere quickly.

Reaching up to switch the function display on one of the monitors attached to the side of Kenzi's bed, Lauren wasn't entirely surprised when Kenzi's blue eyes eased open slightly. After all Bo's call for an end to the arguing had been loud and sudden.

"I was beginning to worry about you." Kenzi's voice was very soft, a thin tired smile creeping onto her face. "Or about me, I'm not too sure which." The smile grew a little. "Figured you'd either been kidnapped or were avoiding me because I wasn't getting better and was going to ruin your perfect record."

Lauren couldn't help but almost instantly push everything that had just happened between Trick and Thistle, and the revelations that had been revealed about her, to the back of her mind as she looked at the younger woman and heard her words. A broad smile filling her features as she reached to settle where Mr Kickers was tucked a little crooked into the blankets close to Kenzi's shoulder.

"I don't know any doctor who has a perfect record." The blonde reasoned still smiling. "But I wasn't kidnapped, thank you for the concern." She added with a nod and a quirk of her eyebrow.

"So how come you palmed me off with Dr. Stink-o-matic over there." Kenzi vaguely nodded her head, having no idea whatsoever where in the room Dr. Trebecker was, but knowing that Lauren would understand what she was getting at.

"I'm here now." Lauren didn't answer the question. "Focus on that, rather than anything else."

"Bo-Bo didn't sound very happy." Kenzi shifted her head on the pillow a little, blinking her eyes properly open this time.

"There you go again focusing on other people." The blonde gently admonished as she reached to flick the monitor back to its original display.

"She's my bestie, it's my job." Kenzi defended watching Lauren's movements with her eyes.

"I know." Lauren admitted softly. "How are you feeling Kenzi?" She placed the back of her hand on the younger woman's forehead.

"So tired." The raven haired girl let out a long breath and closed her eyes as Lauren's cool hand touched her warm skin. "I got Dyson to tell me what's going on." She added, hearing rather than seeing the swish of Lauren's ponytail on the shoulder of her scrubs as she obviously looked over her shoulder to where ever the shifter was in the Dal at that time. "Don't got postal on him 'k?" She put in quickly, hearing the soft swish again as Lauren obviously turned back to her. "I made him tell me, used a super power I have that I can't tell you about." A classically Kenzi smile pulled at her lips as her blue eyes flickered open again.

Lauren smiled and rolled her eyes but gave a soft nod that she wouldn't mention anything to anyone about what had been shared between Dyson and Kenzi.

"Okay ready for the next biggie?" Kenzi turned her head to try to look at Lauren properly.

"Do you have a list?" Lauren drew up the stool that Dyson had been sitting on and eased down onto it, covering her move as a medical necessity by reaching to lightly press her finger tips to the pulse point on Kenzi's wrist.

"It's short." The young woman seemed happy when Lauren settled herself, obviously caring enough to take the time to stay and listen. "You're a doctor and I trust you, I asked Dyson but he's.. well... biased." She summed up, before taking a quick breath. "What are my chances?" The question was breathed out in a scared whisper not actually really spoken.

"What makes you think I'm not biased as well?" Lauren replied her voice soft as she moved the fingers that she held against the younger woman's wrist down to take Kenzi's hand.

"Because you're no nonsense, all business, stoic Dr. Hotpants, Ice queen." Kenzi offered with a weak smile.

"I thought I was Lolabell?" Lauren countered, her eyebrow arched high.

"Damn my sloppy drunken mouth." Kenzi cursed with a grin. "Come on Doc." She added with another deep slow breath.

"Honestly, what Thistle is here to I don't fully understand, I've been reading all I can find on it but that amounts to precious little." She shook her head, making sure however never to lose track of blue eyes with her brown ones. "What I can tell you honestly Kenzi, if what she does works, there is nothing wrong with you that I can't fix, with your help and a little time." Lauren moved her other hand, and in a move that was unusual, towards Kenzi at least, she placed her palm against Kenzi's cheek. "You're going to make it." She underlined with a nod. "Life would be far too mundane without you."

"This looks cozy." Bo's voice was soft as the succubus stepped up behind Lauren, placing one hand on the doctor's shoulder and the other one over where Kenzi and Lauren's hands were clasped together on the bed. "Hey." She added in greeting to her best friend.

Lauren drew her hand back from Kenzi's cheek and put it on her knee as she pushed up off the bar stool, somewhat surprising Bo, who let her arm slide down from off her shoulder so she could move away from the stool completely.

"So you can sit down." Lauren explained gently seeing the frown of confusion that flashed across her lovers face.

"I was fine standing." The succubus pointed out not even realizing she was moving to sit down on the stool even as she was saying the words.

"But sitting there I wasn't getting my checks done." Lauren smiled more as she leaned to press a kiss on Bo's cheek before crossing to pick up the folder of notes from the tray on the back of the headboard of the bed.

For a long moment the succubus' brown eyes watched as Lauren began flipping through papers, her face slipping into its usual contemplative mask as she studied the information on the pages, before Bo looked back at Kenzi.

"Something's going on." Kenzi pointed out.

"Yeah, my best friend did something stupid and has me worried crazy about her." Bo quickly replied her voice light. "And Trick has missed out on a day's business which is going on our tab."

"Wow, shitty." The young woman summed up.

"It's all gonna be better soon Kenz." Bo's tone and demeanour changed suddenly. The lightness replaced with sincerity and faith. "And after all this we're going to have a talk, about what you do and how you do it, okay? Because never again Kenz, I can't do this every day." She admitted shaking her head. "You..." She stopped herself having obviously been about to release and emotional diatribe on her best friend.

"Talk, check." Kenzi nodded as much as she could knowing that whatever was going on with the weird new fae, Bo would need to be focused and together. Even in the state she was in, Kenzi's brain never stopped thinking about way to help her best friend.

-x-

After Lauren had made her final medical assessments, she had given the group a brief run down on Kenzi's current delicate state. If the blonde was honest, the fact that she had no idea what exactly would happen during the harvest made her preparations harder. For this reason, the blonde had checked and re-checked all of the equipment as part of her review. Not knowing what Kenzi was going to experience made it very hard to anticipate which of her body systems would be the most compromised.

Lauren knew that she was had the equipment for most possible problems: infusion pumps added to the IV lines were pre-loaded with painkillers to help relieve any physical pain; a crash cart stood nearby at the ready for a catastrophic cardiac event; a intubation kit to assist in oxygen delivery; and a myriad of instruments and medication bottles were carefully laid out on a nearby cart to be used to combat any number of negative shock reactions.

Like a good boy scout, Lauren was prepared for anything as she knew that when dealing with ancient fae powers, anything was possible. As the blonde had given her run down, she had caught Bo's brown eyes watching her. More attuned to Lauren's micro expressions and tone then to any of the scientific information she conveyed. The look made it obvious to Lauren that Bo really did trust her to do everything medically possible to get Kenzi through the harvest, and that simple act of trust made the doctor melt inside.

Everyone with any knowledge of Bo, knew how critically important Kenzi was to her and to be entrusted yet again to care for the younger woman filled Lauren with an even greater sense of connection to the succubus.

"So, fundamentally as best as I can assess, Kenzi is as ready as she will ever be." Lauren summed up finally as she watched the Harvester slowly stand up from where she had leaned against the bar to listen to the doctor's run down. "And to give credence to Thistle's prediction, her blood levels indicate that Septima infiltration is reaching a peak point again, most probably driven by the ghoul's hunger." She let her brown eyes look up to hold red ones, surprised when the expression reflected back at her was one of appreciation and approval. Both were something Lauren rarely received from fae.

"It is time then." Thistle nodded, her eyes going back to fall on Kenzi.

"We're sure?" Bo put forward the question, more to Thistle then to Lauren. She'd understood from her lover what she needed to about her best friend, Kenzi was weak and probably not ready for a walk across the bar let alone a harvest, but if it had to be done, then now was the time. "I mean... you haven't told us what to expect. Is there anything specific you can tell us?"

"Your experience of the harvest will be much different then mine." Thistle shook her head, knowing she had no clear answer to the succubus' curiosity. "And each is an event of and in itself, dependant on the strength of the possessed, the strength of the possessor and the power of those gathered to assist."

"Bo..." Trick's voice broke in slowly when it was clear the harvester was not going to say more. "Some experiences cannot be explained, they can only be lived." He tried to offer the fortune cookie placation to her question. "And if I am correct, there are still preparations that we all must undertake. We must ensure that we are prepared to proceed before the ghoul is."

"Yes, in this you fact you are right." Thistle, in a rare moment, agreed with him. "Anticipating that you will all wish to be present during the ritual..." She made the appraisal knowing that it was unlikely Bo would leave her best friend, and neither of the two men seemed willing to leave the Succubus. "I must ask something of you Doctor, that I wish that I did not have too." Her hesitation continued as deep red eyes turned to focus on Lauren.

"I will do anything to help Kenzi." Lauren spelled out clearly, her eyes glancing at Bo to confirm her statement to her lover more than anyone.

"I truly believe that." Thistle granted her the insight into what she saw inside the blonde. "You hold a dedication to helping the sick and injured that is lacking within many physicians but what I must ask you to do will be in opposition to that which you wish to do. Doctor..." The tone of regret in Thistle's voice upped the tension in the room further. "Lauren." She said the blonde's name in a soft tone altering the once formal address. "You cannot be present for the harvest."

"What? But..." Bo objected immediately. "Lauren has to be here, she is the one keeping Kenzi alive, you said you couldn't be responsible for that part." She pressed up to stand as well.

"You will also recall I promised to do complete the harvest and be responsible for the act, not the outcome." Thistle turned her eyes to Bo alone. "I am sorry, but as a human Lauren just simply cannot be present."

"Bo, it's for Lauren's own safety." Trick attempted to actually explain the rather simple reason that was behind Thistle's instruction. "As a human..." He tried to begin his explanation but was cut off by his ever increasingly stressed granddaughter.

"No! You don't get it, any of you." Bo shook her head hard. "I need her... here... she... she is a doctor... Kenzi needs her..." She blinked a little frantically. "I need Lauren here, no options." She decided flatly.

"Of course you do." Trick didn't confirm or deny the realism of her statement, just agreed it was indeed the way she felt. "No one is keeping her away in some malicious design, simply she is vulnerable to the ghoul if she is here."

"Vulnerable?" Bo jumped on the word immediately.

"Ghouls have evolved to infiltrate into the bodies of humans, not fae. We have a base natural immunity that makes us unpleasant candidates for possession. Their gifts have been honed so that when they are given a chance to shift into a human's body, they can exploit it and then use that body against the rest of humanity." Trick tried to frame the unavoidable truth so that she would understand. "The nature of a ghoul is to possess humans and spread infection, by not allowing her to be present Thistle is protecting Lauren."

"So if Lauren stays, and you take Septima out of Kenzi it could..." Bo's head turned so her eyes could focus clearly on Lauren. "I can't risk this happening to you." She blinked at her lover, suddenly understand why the Harvester had seemed pained to broach the subject in the first place.

"Do I have to leave the entire building or can I monitor things from outside of this room?" Lauren asked the question, her mind reeling from the idea that she couldn't be in here physically to administer the treatment Kenzi needed as she needed it. Of course she did understand the threat they were all discussing, and that there was no way Bo would agree now to have her remain, even if she volunteered despite the risks.

"I will seal this room when the harvest begins, you need not be any further then outside the door." Thistle seemed pleased that the succubus had been led to reason. "Believe me when I say I know how hard this will be for you, it contradicts all that you believe but please understand that as a harvester I cannot allow you to be purposely put in such danger, it goes against all that I believe."

The two 'healers' looked at each other for a moment longer before the both seemed to come to a silent understanding of how hard this was, but that it was still necessary.

"I must ask that the three of you leave and prepare yourselves for the harvest." She looked up at Trick but she had masked all her previous negative emotions towards him. "Do you have robes Blood King? Or have the times moved on so much for you that you have left the old ways behind?"

"I have that which you will require." Trick answered quickly to prove he had not moved on, in fact he knew that if anyone knew the old ways and still tried to abide by them it was himself. Despite not being told, he had anticipated her need to dress and prepare them, bringing in the plain cotton robes required. "I have also secured a sea serpent bezoar and giant clam shell to create the purifying water needed for us to wash."

As Trick talked of robes and objects, Bo found herself more than a little confused by the references. After all, sea serpents didn't really exist, did they?

"Then I need you all to go, undress and wash all your skin thoroughly. Make sure to be vigilant about your feet, face and hands." Thistle gave the instructions mostly for Bo's benefit wanting her to understand what was needed from her.

"I have also taken the liberty of securing a bottle of tillberry wine." Trick added wanting more than anything to have this harvest finished so that he could be free of the Harvester, and maybe have the grace of seeing a smile stay on his granddaughter's face for longer than a second.

"A useful thing." Thistle didn't give him the satisfaction of admitting that the wine was extremely rare and that she was impressed he'd even found a bottle. "Once you have washed, each of you must consume a full glass of wine." Her eyes again fell to Bo. "Drink it quickly as it is bitter and you must keep it down. It will clean you from within as you have cleaned yourself without." The Succubus was listening to the orders for their personal preparations and nodded to each one. "Re-enter this room only when you have done as I have asked and are in only your robe, no shoes or jewelry. Not before." She warned them gently.

"We're only allowed to wear the robe?" Bo checked for some reason having not expected to have to undress for the ritual.

"Bo, the harvest should be completed with us naked." Trick warned his granddaughter as he moved around the bar, heading towards the back to begin the preparations.

"I can do a robe." Bo nodded understanding now the 'provision' that was being made. She felt herself fill with a very bubbly sense of anticipation, that contrasted deeply to the icy lump of fear that had built up in her stomach as she realized that the harvest was finally going to happen.

-x-

As everyone but Thistle filed out of the main room of the Dal, it was obvious that indeed Trick had been preparing for what was to come. As the small group breached the lower room,the Blood King immediately moved over to pick up a large copper coloured bowl and fill it with water from the enormous giant clam shell that was on the floor. A jug that matched the metal of the bowl, bobbed in the newly added water and taking just a few steps towards Bo he held it out, offering it to her.

"Take a robe from the chair." He nodded to where three unbleached robes were draped over the back of the chair at the desk. "You should use the bedroom." He added with a second nod towards the door.

"Right." Bo moved almost on automatic to take the large bowl from her grandfather, watching as Dyson moved to over fill and take a second identical bowl and robe, before heading off towards the bathroom in silence. "I know she can't come in for the harvesting and everything but can Lauren..." Her eyes went back to the bedroom door.

"Yes Bo." Trick nodded with the ghost of a smile just gracing his lips.

At his words it was Lauren who moved first, the blonde picked up a robe from the chair and went ahead of her lover to hold the door open. Easing it closed behind her as the succubus carefully carried the bowl of water into the bedroom and looked for somewhere to put it down, that didn't look impossible delicate and ornate or old and fragile.

"Here." Lauren encouraged as located a small fold away table tucked in beside one of the wardrobes. She opened it and watched as Bo set the large bowl down.

Bo wiped her hands on her pants, drying them off from the light spattering of water that had spilled onto them as she carried the bowl. She stood for a moment just looking at the surface of the water before reaching in and pulling out the jug.

"Do you want me to help?" The blonde asked as she watched her lover seeming to struggle a little with how to start this.

"Yes." Bo nodded glancing over at Lauren nodding quickly, but then seeming to change her mind, shaking her head as she focused on her lover's face. "That is no." She back tracked. "I mean I do." She contradicted herself again. "But not yet." She finally made her point. "First I want to talk to you." She turned away from the table completely and moved closer to Lauren.

"Oh." The blonde made the small noise as Bo drew closer.

"Please Lauren I know you heard everything that was said in there and you probably understood more of it than I did. You know more about the fae, their lives, their 'speak' than I do." Bo began her reason for delaying her cleansing. "But Lauren you need to hear something from me before we learn anything more about what it all means." She went on. "I don't care." She stated quickly. "I don't care how my Grandfather brought you back because he brought you back to me, and I know that makes me selfish. I know that probably makes me sound horrible but I can't help it. Now I will fight with everything I have to fix anything that is wrong, anything that is bad and could hurt you, but I will never be sorry for getting you back." She took in a quick breath through her nose as she reached for Lauren's hand. "Never." She repeated bringing Lauren's hand up to her cheek and pressing it to her skin. "Because I love you and when I lost you if I had known the spells I would probably have tried them myself just to get you back."

"I know." Lauren forced herself to swallow as she looked into Bo's eyes, the honesty etched into every inch of the succubus face.

"Before you say it I also know it's probably not that simple, nothing ever is, I just, I just needed to say it. I'm not saying I agree with what Trick did, I'm not saying that we don't have to sort the ramifications, I'm just telling you that..." Bo continued.

"I know." Lauren repeated. "And there is something I need to say about it too." She added seeing the succubus straighten up a little, preparing herself to hear her lover's take on the situation. "You need to focus on Kenzi." The blonde made the simple point.

Bo's shoulders sagged a little, this not having been even close to anything she had expected the blonde to say.

"I don't want to frighten you Bo, and I don't want to ignore anything you just said, believe me," Lauren made sure to cup the succubus' face a little more with her hand. "Because your love means everything to me, but Kenzi, this harvesting... Bo..." The blonde shook her head.

Lauren's very demeanour made Bo frown a little, her focusing shifting immediately, which is of course what Lauren had wanted it to.

"What about it?" The succubus demanded.

"I was worried before, when I was going to be there, because there's so much I don't know about what is going to happen, what stresses are going to be put on Kenzi's body throughout the process, but now I can't even be there I..." Lauren explained the reasons for her concerns.

"You're redlining." Bo offered an easy summary.

"I function on facts and traceable variables Bo, statistics and probability are my two best friends most days in the lab." She nodded at her lover's accurate appraisal. "And with Kenzi and what is going to happen to her, I just don't have enough. I need you to keep focused, on you, on her." Lauren explained a little more the point of her conversation.

"You know you never let much show, but when you do, you make me worry. Right now you're almost scaring me." Bo admitted easing Lauren's hand off her own cheek and moving to hold both of the blonde's hands in her own. "What have you found out about this ritual that you haven't told me, that has you so...worried?" The succubus made sure not to fill her tone with anger or tension, just soft concern.

"I just..." The muscles of Lauren's jaw flexed. "I really thought I was going to be there, for Kenzi, for you." She tried to explain without actually explaining anything. "I don't think any of us is prepared for how hard this might be."

"Lauren.." Bo said her lover's name slowly, the blonde really was starting to scare her now she knew that for the long hours she had spent in quarantine all Lauren had done was go through as many historical records as she could to research what was going to happen, whatever the blonde had found out had obviously not sat well with her.

"Some of the reports I read Bo..." Lauren finally cracked a little. "They were...they suggested that the subject of the harvesting isn't an unconscious participant in some mystical spell chanting ceremony."

"What do you mean?" Bo felt a frown draw into her brow.

"I've been trying to remind myself that they are old documents, written in a time when birth defects were a curse from the god and a failed harvest was a deity showing displeasure..." Lauren again tried to somehow lessen the truth of what she had read.

"Baby, you're not over reacting, and even if you are it's okay, just tell me what you found out. What are you worried will happen?"

"I'm worried that it will seem like Kenzi is in pain, that you are hurting her, even killing her." Lauren finally forced out the words. "And that she may tell you that's what you're doing. Ask you, beg you to stop."

"What?" Bo's eyes flared wide, understanding now why her lover had been so tortured. "I don't understand, will I be hurting her? I mean will she be in pain?"

"I don't know." Lauren shook her head honestly the look of helplessness in the blonde's eyes heartbreaking enough in itself. "I just don't know."

-x-


	28. Chapter 28

Disclaimers: All original property is owned by Showcase, and we do not infer that any characters, creations or the concept of 'Lost Girl' are our property and the following fan fiction has been written purely for entertainment purposes only.

Pairings: Bo/Lauren Set directly after our story "Faeral", the third story in an AU plot line.

Rating: M (Contains scenes of violence, sexuality and nudity)

**Faery Tale: Chapter Twenty-Eight**

By: The Rainbowwriters

Rather than becoming less busy when four people had left the main area of the Dal, the activity level actually seemed to increase, with Thistle wasting absolutely no time at all before beginning to rearrange furniture and unpack a large canvass bag, that up until that point had been underneath the table that she had been working on. It wasn't only the harvester however that was spurred into this new level of action, Dr. Trebecker also moved from his perch at the bar and began unravelling lengths of extension cords and connectors.

"Excuse me?" From her place in the centre of the newly described 'chaos' Kenzi made a bid for attention. Possibly to her surprise, it got a response almost instantly from none other than the harvester, who seemed almost to appear at the bedside, holding in one hand a glass of clear liquid with a straw in it and in the other an unlit candle.

"Sorry about the noise." Thistle apologized tucking the candle away into an unseen pocket. "Did you need something? A drink perhaps?"

"Just being nosey." Kenzi replied turning her head to look at the new fae, making her own assessment quickly that it must be kind of hard for her to blend in without wearing shades 24/7. She did however take a short sip of the drink that was offered, all the medications making her so thirsty.

"Your inquisitive nature is quite charming." The harvester replied and as Kenzi looked at her somewhat miraculously the delicate fae's eyes shifted to being a soft shade of green, looking almost 'normal'. "Better?" She asked.

A puzzled yet intrigued frown danced on Kenzi's brow.

"Can you like read my mind?" She asked as she took another sip of the cool drink.

"Not exactly." Thistle shook her head.

"That's a handy trick though." Kenzi had to admit she was impressed.

"Well as you can imagine in certain situations it is necessary." Thistle let the glamour dissipate, her fiery glowing eyes looking at Kenzi with just a hint of expression.

"So you're a farmer fae?" Kenzi tried to strike up an information sharing conversation as Thistle moved the glass to rest on a table fairly close to the bed. "What skills does that give you? You're good with crops?" The harvester actually smiled.

"I am a Druid." She corrected Kenzi softly. "A harvester." She added the detail. "A druid whose skills focus on the soul."

"Right." Kenzi nodded. "Nah who am I kidding, you lost me already." She shook her head the little she was able to. "All I know is the people who I know are in the know say you're the fae for the job and I trust them." She told Thistle her take on the situation.

"I am." The auburn haired fae nodded in agreement.

"Wow, modesty isn't big with you harvesters huh?" Kenzi tried to shift a little in the bed, her whole body uncomfortable.

Thistle didn't reply but she did shake her head as she glanced up briefly watching as Dr. Trebecker began moving some of the larger monitoring machines back away from the bed, ensuring they were still hooked up and working, just no longer crowding the area.

"Sounds like everything getting pretty serious around here." Kenzi closed her eyes, her recent bout of energy seeming to wane rather easily and suddenly.

"It is nearly time." Thistle brought her attention back to the younger woman.

"Why do I have that feeling inside? You know that one you get the day before a big exam, or when you're about to do something you know isn't right or okay but is unavoidable?" Kenzi asked opening blue eyes again to look at Thistle. "And why isn't Bo here? Or Lauren?" A slight edge of panic entered her voice. "Or Dyson or Trick?"

"Be still young one." Thistle reached out and put her hand on Kenzi's shoulder. "They are all here, just preparing themselves as is needed." She explained.

"Shouldn't I be preparing?" Kenzi wasn't sure why suddenly she felt very anxious, so anxious in fact that her chest felt tight and her head a little woozy.

"You are." Thistle replied somewhat cryptically.

"I am?" Kenzi mumbled slightly. "Wait, you roofied me." Her words becoming slightly slurry. "Why is everyone always drugging me?" She asked before her head slipped limply onto the pillow.

"I'm sorry young one, but I only do what is necessary." Thistle apologized gently, leaning to move Kenzi slightly into a more neutral position, central on the large bed, before pulling back the light blankets that were covering her.

When exposed, Kenzi looked tiny on the large high tech fae lab bed, especially when Thistle lowered it to a fully even position, making it look almost more like the top of some crazy science fiction altar. The harvester took a moment to bend down and pick up the small stuffed kangaroo that had fallen from the bed when she had removed the sheets, and placed it back close to Kenzi's shoulder, before stepping back away from the bed and moving away to continue her own preparations.

-x-

By the time that Bo returned to the main area of the bar, dressed in just her scratchy robe, she was surprised to see how busy Thistle had been in their absence. The essence weave she had been working on was now laying over Kenzi's body, the medical bed having been moved down to a flat position to let the weave cover the small woman from head to foot.

As Bo approached the bed, she became very aware that the seemingly random objects that Thistle had attached to her project, actually corresponded to places in Kenzi's body. Feathers framed her face and above her heart was a spiral shell pattern made out of grasses and baubles.

Dyson and Trick were standing silently off to the side, seeming to be waiting for instructions, both in their robes. The white covering made Dyson look awkward, the robe ill fitting in some places due to his muscular build, leading to the material being pulled across his chest and shoulders almost comically. Her grandfather on the other hand looking somehow natural in the robe he was wearing, the size and fit perfect for every inch of his small frame. Even the robe's hood was neatly settled on his shoulders, ready to be easily slipped up over his head if need be. Bo exchanged glances with them both, but everyone's eyes were watching Thistle.

In their absence it seemed the Harvester had prepared everything that she would need. The machines there to monitor Kenzi's physical well being were pushed back as far as they could be, Dr. Trebecker having assisted with that in Lauren's absence. Within the new space, Thistle had arranged various wooden tables, at least a half dozen. The surface of each made from the cross-sectional cut of a tree and carved legs that made them all sit at waist height. On top of them sat an odd collection of bowls, candles and talisman type objects, and one of the larger ones was even covered by a rough piece of cotton fabric.

Bo concluded that where all of these objects had appeared from must be another of the hunted fae's personal tricks, and she pushed her focus away from her curiosity and onto the task at hand.

"Are we ready to start?" Bo asked the question even though it was clear that they were getting close to doing so.

"Nearly." Thistle looked at the arranged group with a slight nod. "But first I must speak with you all about what is about to happen." She walked from where she had been standing at the head of Kenzi's bed back to her supplies. "And talk about what roles you are to have in the ritual."

"We have roles?" Bo asked the question immediately, hating the way Trick and Dyson seemed to be acting like they already knew what their parts where.

"Everyone present must have a role, else they should not be present." Thistle explained without really yet explaining. "The first thing that needs to be established is the relationship that ties each of you to this human." She began, looking around at them all. "None should participate in the ritual who has no feelings for her, or feelings of neutrality." Her eyes lingered a little on Trick, as if expecting the older fae to renege on his participation.

"My feelings run deep, lest I would not have faced the demons of the past that I unearthed to call you here." Trick responded to nullify any question of his neutrality. "I wish Kenzi to survive and be free of that which has invaded her."

"Spoken well old man." Thistle's eyes drew away from him and turned to Dyson. "And you shifter, speak now of your feelings for this human or be cast out of the ritual, not out of shame but out of necessity." She made clear her reasons for doing what she was doing.

"My feelings are clear, the only reason she is facing what she faces is because of me. Everything she suffers, every moment now and in the future she faces the torture of this plague to her mind and body, is mine to take blame for. I would trade places with her if I could, I would do anything necessary to see her survive." Dyson tried at first to look at Thistle but his eyes were pulled down to Kenzi's face and memories of his own selfish happiness when she had appeared with the elixir to make him whole again. He hadn't asked any of the questions he should have, he hadn't kept Kenzi safe, a failing that weighed heavily on him.

"Your desire to share in her hardships will keep you here." Thistle gave the slightest of nods in Dyson's direction. "Succubus." She turned to Bo. "Speak now child." Her voice while addressing Bo was as soft as any of them had ever heard it, almost tender.

"My feelings for Kenzi are simple..." Bo moved closer to the bed and put her hand on Kenzi's foot, which stuck out between strands of the weave. The bright shiny black polish on her tiny toes making Bo frown as the gravity of the situation pushed down on her. "She's my little sister, she is home. I spent so many years without anything like a home, fearing what I was, who I was... but when I met Kenzi, all she saw was who I was inside, and from the first moment she trusted me, believed in me. I will always do the same for her."

"Your bond is both undeniable and enviable." The harvester actually smiled at Bo for a long moment and then nodded to the three of them. "You are all accepted to participate."

"Wait, what about the fae doctor?" Bo asked instantly, having expected to see him already hovering by the machines. After all, Lauren might not be able to be in the bar because she wasn't fae and thus didn't possess a natural immunity to the ghoul's possessive power but Dr. Trebecker was fae, so shouldn't he be here?

"He has no connection to Kenzi, his feelings for her are purely scientific and unemotional. If he is present during the ceremony, his energies could disrupt the harvest." Thistle had been waiting for her to ask this question, knowing it seemed that few angles were missed by the headstrong succubus.

"I want that thing out of her now." Bo hissed looking at the machines. She knew how helpless Lauren was feeling and Bo had hoped that at least with the other doctor in the room her lover might find some way to still help. Of course now she knew that option wasn't happening, it was just going to be Kenzi and the ghoul versus the four of them alone. These weren't odds Bo liked at all, her body feeling more apprehension and stress then she'd even felt when facing the Garuda.

"I know, and soon." Thistle nodded, pleased that Bo seemed to accept her conditions. "But there is more you should know." She looked at Bo seriously. "The journey your friend is about to make is not an easy one, and not one she will make voluntarily." The small slender fae began. "And you must know that she will fight against where I lead, with both words and actions."

"Is that her fighting you or the ghoul? Will she know what is going on?" Bo asked the important questions whirling around in her mind like annoying flies.

"It will be both." Thistle's reply didn't give any real details. "And so I ask of you a question." She turned and picked something off the middle table. "As the one present who would knows her best..." She turned back around holding up lengths of dull aged chain, that was clearly a lot stronger than it looked, most probably mystically so. "Would you consider restraints necessary, or do you believe that you have the strength and the will power to hold her down? Bear in mind child there is no wrong answer to the questions I ask you, only honesty." She added as she saw Bo's eyes look between her hands, or rather the chains in her hands and the young woman on the bed. "Keep in mind as you consider your answer, the restraints I offer are are strong and well forged, but crush and bruise so easily. The arms of a loved one are strong and kind, but under duress may falter or fail."

"I can hold her." Bo shook her head to the idea of chaining Kenzi down. "Maybe it will help if she feels it's me, trusts that I'm doing what's best for her even if it makes no sense."

"I will also help hold her." Dyson spoke up, standing a little straighter and prouder in his place.

"Very well." Thistle nodded and turned, replacing the chains and picking up another item. As the harvester turned, she was holding up a nine inch long cylinder of wood. The object was wrapped in leather, and had a broad flat cord running through the centre of it, hanging down either side in long tails.

"What is that?" Bo questioned immediately a frown forming on her face instantly, something inside her instantly taking a dislike to whatever it was.

"This Bo, is another choice." Thistle replied, with a soft nod. "During our journey much will be said, words can sting and injure as surely as knives, they can cripple as easily as clubs. This will stop them before they can begin." She pointed out, finally making it clear what the archaic looking object was for. "So that neither Kenzi's nor Septima's plea's or curses can sway or torture you."

"But don't we need to hear Kenzi?" Bo pointed out immediately, glancing without thinking at Dyson to see what he thought.

"All that needs to be heard, I will hear whether or not the body before you has a voice." Thistle shook her head to Bo's question. "This question is a choice for your side of this journey. Again I would ask you to consider this, the wood is strong and feels not the bite of teeth nor the cut of a sharp word, but it gives nothing in return. A sympathetic listener is vulnerable, easily hurt but can soothe a scared and tortured soul."

"I can't gag her." Bo shook her head rapidly. "It's too..." She hesitated to say what she really thought. After all talking was one of Kenzi's favourite things, if she was scared and unable to speak it would tighten that fear into terror. "Whatever she says I can take it."

Again Thistle gave a subtle nod, though she caught the look that Dyson gave to Trick as she turned and put the wooden mouth bit down on the centre table again.

"And so we come to the last choice I must ask you to make." Thistle breathed out slightly, though this time when she turned she didn't have anything in her hands. "Succubus I would ask you now to come and stand where I do." The harvester waited until Bo had moved to stand next to Thistle near the tables "Look upon the table in front of you, and choose from them a weapon." She turned and pulled the simple square of fabric that had been covering the items on the biggest table.

Bo looked down at the objects that until now had been hidden away. There was an ornately carved dagger with a sweeping semi circular blade; a morning star, the round ball of which had at least a hundred razor sharp spikes coming off it that all glinted in the dancing candle light; a rather ordinary looking short sword, though on closer inspection it had a seam of bright blue precious gem stones running the full length of the blade in a shallow groove; and lastly a garroting wire, with ornate ivory handles, carved into the shape of rearing unicorns at either end.

"Why would I need to do that?" Bo looked between them all feeling her stomach roll, she hadn't anticipated that they would need weapons for the harvest.

"Not all harvests are successful, if I fail you will need to perform the ultimate act of friendship and release your friend's essence from the torture it suffers." Thistle's voice was soft and tender, as if the explanation actually pained her.

"You're not going to fail." Bo shook her head immediately. She had placed her faith in this woman, this fae, this harvester, and she didn't want to hear about failure.

"If the harvest should fail the life of the infected must be extinguished in such a way that the ghoul no longer can use it as a vessel. All the weapons you see before you have been specifically crafted by a harvester, either myself or one of my kin, for precisely that job. None is more efficient than another. This choice is merely a personal preference." The harvester continued even though Bo had taken a step away from the table.

"We're not killing her, that's the whole reason for doing this, to save her." Bo continued to disagree with the entire line of thought, backing up so far that she actually bumped into the bed.

"You refuse to to choose a weapon?" Thistle asked not looking at Bo just asking the question slowly but clearly.

"I..." Bo, who had been stopped by her gently collision with the bed, turned to look at Kenzi's almost serene face, framed with feathers, with sparkling crystals on the stands of weave on her cheeks, looking almost like frozen tears. "Yes, I refuse, you're not going to fail." She looked back at Thistle shaking her head adamantly.

"And so it shall be." Thistle nodded at Bo, keeping her eyes on the succubus for a moment before she held her head up a little straighter and looked between Trick and Dyson, "So I turn to you Wolf, Blood King." She paused to nod slightly at both of them, "Which of you will stand forward and pick a weapon?"

"If one of us must take this burden then let it be me." Dyson's resolution showed the heavy sadness that came with the offer. Clearly he didn't wish any harm on the young woman, but as he had offered Bo in the morgue, he knew that death would free Kenzi's soul from the grips of the ghoul. A horrible solution but if necessary one he would bare knowing that if Thistle failed, there was simply no other choice.

"No, old friend." Trick shook his head, reaching to put his hand on Dyson's arm briefly. "Let it be me." He moved forward towards the table. "For I would shoulder this responsibility for everyone here, for everyone that I love." He moved up to beside Bo and put his hand on hers that had begun to shake when the harvester, rather than give up on the question had just turned it onto the other two people present. Giving her the saddest look of love and regret she had ever seen, the older fae reached out and lifted the understated short sword off the table.

"No..." Bo shook her head stumbling forward suddenly, reaching out for the blade. Her hand was stopped in a tight grip around the wrist by Thistle.

"Blood King, you feel capable and willing to wield this weapon?" The harvester looked at Trick, still holding Bo back, her burning eyes looking at him as he weighed the blade in his hands.

"I feel capable and willing." Trick gave a stiff nod before beginning to move back to his place, only then did Thistle let Bo's arm go.

"Wolf, I would ask you to stand by her legs. Blood King, your role will need you placed near her head." She didn't look at him as he began moving. "Bo..." In a rare moment Thistle used the succubus' name. "I have taken the liberty of unwrapping both of her hands and arms a little up the wrist, if you would hold one, I am sure that would be best."

"Right." Bo nodded and rather stupidly moved over and looking down first at Kenzi's small right hand, she smiled and then finally reached taking it in reverently in one of hers. "This is all going to be over soon Kenzi." She whispered to her best friend.

"The harvest is about to begin, try to ensure the weave remains over her at all times, limit her movement as much as possible but do not at any time place any of your own body beneath the weave." She looked specifically at Bo, "A finger or two is fine should you slip, just nothing like your head or an excessive amount of say your arm." She made herself a little clearer. "I would also ask you now to focus your mind, as much as you can, on your feelings for this young human, and the desire you have to see her freed from her torture. I ask you not to fear the dark or doubt your own strength and ability to complete this harvest." Thistle face falling to a very neutral and almost cold expression as she moved to the free side of the bed. "Finally before I begin I must ask you not at any time to interfere with anything that I am doing from now until the ceremonies conclusion, no matter what pleas you hear, no matter what you see. You must not waiver, the harvest must be completed. Blood King you know..."

"I do." Trick cut Thistle off from whatever she was going to ask of him. "And it will be done." He added, his eyes looking a little darker almost as he kept the harvester's gaze for a moment.

Thistle gave a shallow nod and then breathed out as she looked at Dyson, Trick and then Bo in their places around Kenzi's bed. Dyson stood almost to attention at the foot of the bed, his eyes not on the harvester at all, but on the end of the bed. The Blood King's eyes were on the hilt of the sword in his hand, Bo's were fixed on her hand over Kenzi's, the succubus' trying hard to do what Thistle had told them to, focus on how much she loved and wanted Kenzi back.

Form her place on the opposite side of the bed to Bo, the harvester gently raised Kenzi's left hand and laid it flat against her own so that their palms touched each other. Her lips moved in silent prayer as her other hand reach to extract a long stiletto knife from her waist band.

The glint of metal caught Bo's eye making her look up. At the same time her mouth opening to say something, but anything she could have even imagined saying was silenced when in a simple but impossibly forceful move, Thistle thrust the blade down through the back of Kenzi's hand, continuing to push down hard until more than an inch and a half of the now blood coated metal stuck out of the harvester's own hand on the other side. Kenzi entire body went taut and a blood curdling scream filled the Dal as all at once every candle in the room blew out.

The Harvest had begun.

-x-


	29. Chapter 29

Disclaimers: All original property is owned by Showcase, and we do not infer that any characters, creations or the concept of 'Lost Girl' are our property and the following fan fiction has been written purely for entertainment purposes only.

Pairings: Bo/Lauren Set directly after our story "Faeral", the third story in an AU plot line.

Rating: M (Contains scenes of violence, sexuality and nudity)

**Faery Tale: Chapter Twenty-Nine**

By: The Rainbowwriters

The first thing that Kenzi became aware of, was that she was squatted down with her knees pulled up close to her chest. Her body was in such a tight small ball that she could feel the intense muscular strain burning in her calves and thighs as if she'd been this way for hours. Her arms were wrapped tight around her chest behind her knees, making the compact position even more uncomfortable. As she lifted her face and opened her eyes, she was greeted at first by nothing but darkness. In fact it was so dark, Kenzi squeezed her eyes back shut and then opened them, not once but twice trying to figure out where she could be that was so dark.

The sheer blanket of blackness not only made Kenzi feel disoriented mentally, but it filled her with an edgy chill that lifted goosebumps on her skin. Slowly her blue eyes adjusted, and instantly became aware of a wall of some sort to her left. Her brain slowly began to put together that she was crouched her beside it, clearly hiding from something but no matter how hard she tried to remember she couldn't think of what it would be that she was hiding from.

She put out her hand, instantly recognizing the feel of cardboard under her palm. The tall wall beside her was in fact a stack of boxes and as her eyes adjusted further she could see the criss-cross pattern of the edges, showing the separation from one box to another. As things began to clear more and more, she knew suddenly where she was. She was in fact in the basement of the club house, a thought that gave her the courage to lean forward the few inches necessary to see around the corner into the far side of the room.

Her overstressed legs almost toppled her forward clumsily as her eyes came to rest on the intense darkness again. Though now it was as if the basement simply melted into it, and the infinite universe of black loomed beyond. Hastily she leaned back away from it and Kenzi let her eyes fall back on floor near her feet.

"Bo? Bo?" Almost as if she remembered she had a voice, Kenzi spoke her best friend's name in a tense squeak. Before she peeked out around the box again, almost to confirm to her brain that indeed a looming black hole seemed to have appeared in the basement of the crack shack. Staring into the abyss Kenzi's attention was drawn to what she wanted to assume was a trick of the eye, as black seemed to shift against black somehow. Quickly she again pulled back, swallowing hard as nothing but silence had returned a message to her call. "Bo, are you out there because I'm pretty sure that something is and right now I'm just hoping somehow it's you." Her voice wavered slightly as her finger nails dug into the slightly damp cardboard that she hadn't even realized she'd clutched as she'd been looking around the corner.

"Okay Kenzi." She said to herself, prepping for some sort of action. "You can't just stay here forever, this is the basement, you just need to get to the stairs, and up to the main floor... Bo will be on the main floor." She breathed out and moved her head from one shoulder to the other, somewhat like she had watched fighters do in preparation for big fights, psyching herself up.

Knowing that her sore legs were going to protest, Kenzi double checked the height of the boxes, and then pushed herself up into straight legged stoop, trying to work blood back into them. She bit her tongue as the intense pain of the move almost made her stumble out into the open, but in a short time she was able to crouch more effectively and she turned her body towards the staircase in preparation.

Looking around at the floor, she couldn't see anything that looked remotely helpful. For some reason there were a couple of wigs and one of her favourite corsets scattered off to her left, but nothing other than those and cobwebs broke up the monotony of floorboards.

Somewhere off in the darkness there was a soft thud and a small plume of dust filtered up to dance in the dim light that filtered into the huge room through the tiny boarded up windows. Kenzi realized as she watched the dust and followed the light trail that the small windows were the only reason she could see anything at all.

"Bo?" Kenzi again poked her head out, her instincts instantly telling her that the plume of dust and noise had to be caused by a something or a someone. She knew in all honesty, that while alone and unarmed she didn't want to meet either.

Instead of seeing nothing, or Bo in her most naive hopes, this time from the centre of the abyss, two glowing red eyes looked back at her.

"Oh shit." Kenzi pulled back around her suddenly seeming to be beating a thousand times a minute in against her rib cage. "Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit." She breathed out the curses with each breath. "This is not good."

Ice blue eyes flicked over to the side of the room where she could suddenly make out the bottom step of the flight of stairs that led up to the main floor of the club house, the way out. It looked a mile away in the mostly empty basement, but really it was not more than three or four steps in open territory. Most importantly she had no choice, with nothing to fight with, and apparently no best friend with super powers back up.

Putting her hands up flat against the box in front of her face, Kenzi frowned hard, her mind taken off her predicament for a second as she discovered a large open wound in the middle of the back of her hand. Turning her hand over, Kenzi stared at her palm seeing that the bloody 'hole' that she had seen from the back went clear through her hand. Holding it up towards the light of one of the windows, she realized she could literally see through the wound as if it were a dime shaped window.

"Oh that is so not good." Kenzi whispered staring at her hand as she turned it over and over slowly, her brain stalling a little as to why she had a bloody hole in her hand. Apparently though it was a definite 'wound', it didn't seem to be actively bleeding. She found her other hand moving towards the wound before she really thought about it, knowing she had been going to poke her finger in to confirm the hole went all the way to the other side, she stopped herself short.

"I so need to get out of here." The young woman bent down really low again like a runner at the starting blocks but still she hesitated. Taking a last quick look around to see if there was a spare box that she could perhaps shuffle along with her hiding her tiny body behind it, in a cartoon escape. but once again her quick scan of the area came up with nothing.

"Oh come on," She breathed out and cursed at herself in Russian. "Give a girl some kind of hope." She wiped her non-injured hand on her leg.

As if on cue the door at the top of the basement stairs slowly opened and a bright light shone through it from the other side, as if calling her to the safety of the main floor.

"Okay I can do this." Kenzi focused on the light cast from the top of the stairs down to the bottom one. Then with a hard breath out, she pushed over the tower of boxes she hid behind as a distraction to whatever lurked beyond and ran full hilt to the stairs. Not pausing to look behind her as her feet pushed up off each riser, the seven or eight stairs it should have been to the door grew. Every footfall pushing her higher up the suddenly longer staircase towards the insanely bright light but it was only by the time that she was panting from exertion that she finally reached the top step and threw herself through the doorway.

-x-

Thistle's violent action was not what Bo had prepared herself for. She had talked herself into the idea that this might require some sort of blood letting, be it minor, like a cut on the hand. Done slowly and carefully with much care, so when the Harvester literally impaled the dagger through both Kenzi's hand and her own, Bo had not been ready for the sheer snap craziness of it.

Immediately, watching with her own mouth literally gaping open in shock, Bo gripped Kenzi's hand tighter as she watched as the Harvest begin.

In time with the scream,Thistle's head had snapped back as if she had been struck hard in the face. Her red eyes looked up at the ceiling, unblinking and clearly intensely staring at something that Bo couldn't see above her. The small fae's whole body then tensed and began to pull upwards until she was perched on her tip toes, defying gravity as if tethered to a string from the ceiling of the bar.

Bo took a quick look, her mouth still open, between Trick and Dyson. Both fae eyes were also on Thistle, but their looks did not convey to Bo the same shock that she was feeling.

Her glare moved back to her grandfather, his eyes dipping away almost instantly when they flicked to see her staring at him. Stretching down, not at any time releasing her grip on Kenzi's hand, she flicked her arm out and clipped Dyson in the shoulder with a considerable amount of intent.

"You both should have told me about this." Bo hissed at them, her displeasure obvious as her angry eyes darted from them back to Kenzi. Despite the intensity of the scream, so far her best friend seemed to remain in the peaceful slumber she had started in. For the moment it was the one thing Bo was happy about.

"Knowing wouldn't have made it easier Bo." Dyson shook his head, taking the cheap shot without any physical reaction.

"And the exorcist pose?" Bo glared across to where Thistle hung, and she noticed that on top of the levitation, time itself seemed to have stopped around the Harvester as her hair waved in midair still from the movement backwards of her head. She was about to demand more answers from the two of them, but was instantly stalled when on the table Kenzi's body started to spasm and jump within its bonds. "Kenzi?" She refocused instantly on her best friend. "Hang in there baby, remember you're an amazon." She used the phrase they'd often joked about hoping somehow Kenzi could hear her, knew intrinsically that the succubus would be here with her, no matter how freak show this got.

"Hold her down Bo, this is when things are really going to begin." Dyson's voice sounded oddly ominous and almost scared, as he instructed Bo from his place at Kenzi's feet.

Not having the time to question his instruction, Bo leaned to hold down Kenzi's body with her own, though she didn't let go of her best friend's hand.

-x-

Having finally steeled her nerve and made a run for the doorway, Kenzi found herself stumbling not into the living room but instead she found herself toppling into the Dal. As she landed on her knees, the highly polished wooden floor made her slide forward a few feet before she came to a complete stop. A quick look behind her proved that the darkness hadn't followed her, and she picked herself to momentarily celebrate her escape.

The atmosphere in the bar was energetic and busy, most tables full of fae, of all shapes and sizes. Some much more 'unhuman' then Kenzi ever remembered seeing in the way staion. The expected central buffet, that seemed to appear in the bar every time there was an important Fae holiday, was laden with hot food and other edible treats. It took the young woman a few turns in her place to fully orient herself to where she was. On her fourth rotation, her focus was grabbed by the sound of her best friend's voice across the bar.

"Dyson, hold it straight, it's the only way to roll it." Bo was strangely standing on the bar top, trying to finish twisting a long line of streamer so that it made uniform curls. The wolf was partially leaned against a bar stool holding the other end of the decoration. "She's going to get here and the the bar being ugly will be your fault." She warned him, all of the recent emotion and animosity in the brunette's voice gone in relation to the wolf. In fact Bo looked more relaxed and casual than Kenzi had ever seen her in a long while. Even her outfit of a short navy skirt and bright red sweater that clung to her every curve, was very 'after hours' Bo.

A low laugh came from the wolf's throat as he made a better attempt at holding his end of the streamer. His eyes were bright, his face happy and relaxed as behind him Lauren wandered up, poking her head over his plaid shirt covered shoulder to watch the pair of them for a moment. As she did so she slipped her hand around to rest on his waist briefly.

"You two do know that is upside down don't you?" The blonde stopped watching them to look across more directly at the succubus with a soft smile, she then pointed to a banner the two of them had already hung, "Happy 25th Birthday doesn't read so well inverted."

From her place Kenzi, who didn't even question how she could hear the conversation from so far away. Which considering the level of revelry that seemed to be already going on in her honour, should have struck her immediately, watched the interaction between the three of them with a look of shock.

"Hello?" She called out beginning to start walking towards the bar. "If this is all for me you're not only illiterate but crazy because hello, not my birthday and so not that old." She pointed out making her voice loud and clear to be heard over the other patrons.

"Didn't you know you're the only one of us who is literate." Bo teased Lauren even as she turned to see that indeed Lauren was right. She made no reaction to Kenzi's words.

"The rest of you only develop literacy after several bottom shelf specials from your grandfather." Lauren shook her head, sliding away from Dyson to literally sashay her way closer to Bo, the silver and red cocktail dress she was wearing, accentuating the movement of her slender hips. When reaching her destination she placed a kiss on the brunette's lower leg, the skin there being the only thing she could reach.

"Was that a request to start drinking early?" Trick suddenly popped up rather like a jack in the box from behind the bar with a tray full of shot glasses, each filled with a bright green liquor.

"Okay I know I ruined this crazy surprise but ignoring me won't help the situation." Kenzi laughed as she began to try and make her way across the short distance to reach the bar, but as she took one step forward a body in the crowd came from her left side and knocked her lightly back a few feet. Her next attempt had her just a hairs breath away from putting her hand on the wooden surface, when another two bodies pushed her sideways and before she knew it again she was on the other side of the bar.

"Hey, hey you guys move it." Hale suddenly powered through the front doors of the Dal wearing in a leopard print suit, with no shirt underneath it, just a large chain around his neck, with a platinum and diamond 'ASH' Charm hanging down from it against his bare chest. Accompanying him were four body guards and two 'ladies'. The body guards in black suits with mirror shades, the women in leopard bikinis, with large Afro hair styles. "The 'Z' mobile just pulled into the parking lot, you ain't got the time to hang that disco ball brother."

Kenzi looked back at Dyson who suddenly had an enormous disco ball in his hand. He was standing behind the bar now trying to tie it to the hilt of the Garuda sword, to match one that was hung on the other side already, making the whole thing look so phallic Kenzi's eyebrow quirked in question.

"L'il momma is about to come through that door so the Garuda is just going to hang lopsided." Hale moved right over to the bar and jumped up to sit on it, his guards making an awkward ring around him the girls standing close and stroking his thighs.

"Hey Ash Man! Already here!" Kenzi felt her focus shift as suddenly she was the other side of Hale and the bar by the door, with an oversized martini glass filled with strange green liquid in her hand. It was so heavy in fact that she almost dropped it at first having not been expecting the weight. "Yell surprise, I have a drink already." She grinned brightly and then felt the glass finally drop out of her grip, it simply being too heavy to keep aloft.

About to apologize for dropping the drink, Kenzi looked up to see that Bo was down off the bar top and now snuggled with Dyson on one side of her, the wolf nuzzling her ear and Lauren on the other, the succubus peppering light kisses on Lauren's hand that she had a hold of and kept cupped to her cheek. The odd scene of the three of them was enough to make Kenzi's brain stop, but something else fluttered over Lauren's shoulder that caught the young woman's attention.

Glowing red eyes.

Instantly Kenzi's skin broke out into goose flesh as her whole being filled with a sense of being hunted, or wanted or something. Without hesitation this time she just turned towards the door she knew was just behind her left shoulder and hit it hard mid run in a panicked bid to escape.

-x-

"We have to do something, I think she's choking." Bo could hear the panic in her own voice as she tried to wedge more of her weight down onto Kenzi's body in order to keep it from bouncing out of the bed or out from under the weave. She still had a hard grip on Kenzi's hand but her best friend's entire body was spasming so bad that some of the restrictive bandages had been torn by the friction.

Dyson was the only reason her legs weren't jumping off the table and kicking the weave away and at her head, Trick was using his free hand to put pressure on her forehead to keep her head stationary.

As if the endless seizure wasn't bad enough, Kenzi's eyes had flung open to reveal pure white orbs and a thick yellowy foam had begun to bubble out of her mouth and pool between her lips. The accumulation of enough it on her lips so that a thick line of foam finally spilled down both her cheeks. Which is what had finally driven the succubus into the panic she was now experiencing.

"Just hold her still." Trick's voice was flat, almost distanced, his eyes flicking between Thistle and Kenzi's face. "You can wipe her mouth, but don't do anything more."

"Don't get your hand too close to her mouth when you wipe, she may try to bite you." It was Dyson who made the warning, stopping Bo's arm as she began to lean up to use the sleeve of her robe to wipe the thick sputum away.

"Curse you wolf beast!" A sudden hiss came out of Kenzi's mouth, in Kenzi's voice, but as Bo noted in her subconscious, Kenzi's voice when she tried to do imitate a crazy evil scientist. Her lips were now free of the thick yellow goo that had been forced out over her chin with her words. "I wanted to know what the succubus really tasted like."

Bo cringed and had to forcefully pull back, hating the small victory this seemed to give the ghoul.

"This is normal?" Bo asked for confirmation, holding her body tighter down onto Kenzi's midsection as the small body threatened to try to rise again.

"There is nothing normal in this Bo." Dyson replied his arms locked in place over Kenzi's legs, fighting the strong limbs to keep control of them.

"Where's my master?" Septima made a few chomping motions at the air, trying to dislodge her head enough to bite at Trick's arm.

"Don't worry about her." Bo tried to regain some of her composure.

"Don't address it." Her grandfather snapped as he fought to keep Kenzi's head restrained and Bo instantly kicked herself for forgetting the strict instruction.

"What have you done with my master?" Kenzi's body made a more defined effort to push up, Septima clearly gaining more control over it. "I can smell her, sense her..."

"Keep her down." Trick underlined in a strong voice as he used both of his small forearms to try to press backwards on Kenzi's forehead as the ghoul now fought harder.

"She's not this strong." Bo felt panic flood her again as it became actually difficult to hold Kenzi's upper body down. The arc of her best friend's small form off the mattress, high and oblique, lifting Bo off her feet and into the air. Not able to keep Kenzi down, Bo concentrated on keeping the weave between them and in place. The arm attached to the hand she had in the tightest grip she could manage, was desperately trying to pull itself free of the succubus. Septima's attempts to break the grip almost succeeded as the rest of the bandages around the arm succumbed to the violent movements. The loss of the restrictive pressure of the bandages allowed the young woman's elbow to be bent and almost before Bo knew it her hand was dragged fully under the weave. Her arm almost followed, but she hooked her foot into part of the underside of the bed for leverage and yanked it back to its original position.

"Bo." Dyson's voice tried to make the warning but she had reacted at the same time he'd spoken.

Bo turned her head towards the wolf to acknowledge that she did remember Thistle's warning, only to see his concentration was on her and neither of them immediately noticed that the bandages on Kenzi's right leg had split with her last arch. Before she could even try to warn him back, Bo watched as the loose material made his grip slip and Kenzi's leg kicked up, hitting the wolf square in the face so hard that his body actually flew backwards in a high arch.

"Dyson." Bo felt herself call his name, even as her brain fought to believe how such a short kick from the small brunette could do such damage to the strong wolf. She stretched out as much as their clasped hands would allow and tried to ensure the weave remained over Kenzi's legs.

Her moments of question on ghoul strength was broken as Kenzi's body dropped heavily into the mattress and just began to shake. Head to toe, in a fashion like she was shivering in the cold. Bo could only believe that somehow the ghoul's strike against the mesh had meant backlash for the ghoul and not just an unscheduled flight for Dyson.

As Dyson scrambled to get back to his place, the shivering motion began to have an unexpected side effect as the weave threatened to slip sideways in the middle. Bo apologized to her roommate as she dove up over Kenzi's small midsection and literally pressed the webbing down so that it couldn't move.

"You st..." She found herself beginning to address it and then mentally chastised herself for doing so as she cut off her own words.

"Whore-son. I will kill you all." There was very little traceable Kenzi left in the voice that cursed at Bo and struggled violently against the new pressured contact with the mystical netting. "Harlot... Fornicator..." It growled again pressing its head back as a new tactic to try somehow to get away from Trick's ever present grip across Kenzi's forehead. "Let me go!" The ghoul began to howl. "I have my master to serve, a purpose to fulfil... my master..."

-x-


	30. Chapter 30

Disclaimers: All original property is owned by Showcase, and we do not infer that any characters, creations or the concept of 'Lost Girl' are our property and the following fan fiction has been written purely for entertainment purposes only.

Pairings: Bo/Lauren Set directly after our story "Faeral", the third story in an AU plot line.

Rating: M (Contains scenes of violence, sexuality and nudity)

**Faery Tale: Chapter Thirty**

By: The Rainbowwriters

Stumbling out of the Dal doors Kenzi found her boots hitting not the tarmac of the alley outside the busy bar, but instead echoing across the expensive stonework that lined the floor of the Ash's office. Her run came to a slow halt as she looked around trying to orient herself to the unexpected location again, the echoes of her footfalls sounding far too loud.

"Hale?" She called out on instinct and wasn't surprised when he didn't answer her at first. What was surprising was the intense way the siren's name echoed, each repetition getting slightly softer until it seemed spoken like a whisper.

Breaking her from the distraction was the realization that in fact no one seemed to be answering her, as normally a ruckus in the office would have caused the security outside the door to come in and investigate.

Feeling a sense of isolation and uneasiness setting in, Kenzi moved towards the double doors. Trying to keep her footsteps soft she walked slow and deliberately, but each press of her boot to the floor was as loud as it had been while she was running.

Reaching her goal, Kenzi tried to pull the door open with one hand but found it too heavy. She could only make it budge using both her hands and her body weight leaned back to slowly creak it open, the hinges acting as if it was rusted shut.

Finally she was able to create enough of a gap to slip through into the hallway beyond, finding that it was as empty as she had feared it to be.

All of the usually pristine planters in the corridor were overgrown and uncared for, fed by the sunlight and rain that poured in through the empty frames of once ornate stained glass windows. The floor was littered with cubes of the multicoloured glass, clearly strewn there when the windows had been smashed inwards some time before.

The light that flooded in grew in intensity as Kenzi looked out the window frames into it, increasing until it shone onto the small cubes. The erratic edging of the shattered glass pieces caused the beams to bounce and split off each other to create the most elaborate light and colour show in the space around the young woman. As she stepped forward into it, Kenzi moved her head from one side to the other seeing nothing but a kaleidoscope world of fractal colours and shapes.

"Woo, trippy." She laughed nervously to herself but found her body starting to twirl like a child would, in tight endless circles with her face to the sky, arms outstretched. With the motion and the display around her, it wasn't unexpected for Kenzi to lose her balance and she found herself falling, only to skid through the thick coating of glass cubes on the floor.

Her laughter grew a little manic as she laid there, her arms and legs moving the glass shards almost like it were snow and she was making a snow angel, but the noise seized in her throat as the lights around her began to fade. As a massive eclipse like event seemed to be happening directly over head, pressing a huge shadow in inch by inch into the area. Scrambling up to her feet, even her fear couldn't keep her from turning to stare into one of the broken frames into the centre of the already eclipsed area. Her heart knowing or at least dreading what she would find there.

Of course, small but growing larger by the second in the darkness were two orbs of fiery red, focused solely on her. Their intensity and size increasing as the darkness became more absolute and the warm sunlight became a distant memory.

"Shit balls." Kenzi cursed as literal panic overtook her and she turned again and started running, her legs propelling her forward almost on their own.

She ran through corridor after corridor, then through garden after garden before her lungs burned and her mouth was filled with that sharp metallic taste that made her reluctant to swallow. Finally she threw a reluctant glance over her shoulder, vaguely relieved to find no sign of the horrifying hunting eyes.

With her heart beating up in the back of her throat, Kenzi looked around seeing only white walls before finally her eyes focused on a door. A door that had the large black bold typed words 'Lauren's Lab' hung over it on a metal sign. Not even stopping to question the unlikely label, Kenzi hurried inside to try and escape.

-x-

For a long while, after her burst of energy, Septima had been a little more placid, content only to give the occasionally buck against Bo, or the odd test kick of one of her legs against Dyson's restraining hold.

With great credit to the wolf, though there was blood running quite freely from his nose, down over his lip even off from his chin, he paid no attention to it and merely focused his attention on keeping the best hold that he could on Kenzi's body. The pain he was in only really visible in his eyes, that were tinged with a slight trace of yellow.

Bo likewise was finding the level of effort she was having to put into just holding her best friend's body down onto the bed hard work. The temptation to relax was always immediately punished by a flail or a twist from Septima. Or even a blatant attempt to shrug off the essence weave with an almost crocodile death roll to the side.

The constant pressure on both Bo's body and mind was making the succubus feel tenser and weaker with each passing minute.

"Can either of you two tell me how long this is going to take?" Bo asked the very pointed question with her jaw firmly locked as she tried to maintain an even pressure across Kenzi's torso as once again her best friend's body began a head to toe quiver, as if the fragile young woman were soaking wet and frozen cold at the same time.

"No one can say." Trick replied, his voice still flat and toneless to such an extent that Bo had to look over to him, disbelief in her own brown eyes. It was almost comforting to her when she saw that her grandfather's face was beaded with sweat, the muscles the arm that braced across Kenzi's forehead tight and locked, though shaking slightly from their hard constriction.

"You must have some idea." Bo couldn't help but snap a little the second time. "Trick, she wasn't well before we started this, this must be hurting her." The succubus could feel how sweat had soaked the bandages covering Kenzi's body already between the effort put into fighting them, and the obvious psychological war being fought within the trance.

"The harvest takes as long as the harvest must." A frown danced on the Blood King's brow as Kenzi began to whimper.

-x-

"Lauren..." Kenzi's panted out the blonde doctor's name as she slammed closed the double doors she ran through, leaning her head on them briefly to try and calm the rapid hammering of her heartbeat in her temples and the whoosh of blood through her ears. "Lauren there's..." She tried again to speak in warning as she pushed up from the doors to turn to look into the lab, hoping desperately to see the blonde running towards her ready with some kind of explanation and help, or at the very least a way out.

Except when Kenzi looked up, she found herself not in Lauren's lab at all, but instead in her best friend's bedroom in the upper floor of the club house. Bo's large four poster bed, the natural focal point of the room, was in its usual messed up state. Empty, but with dark maroon sheets tossed over it haphazardly.

Taking a half step away from the doors, Kenzi turned around and stared at them. But there was nothing odd about them, they were just the usual bedroom doors of the club house. Kenzi frowned harder and quickly moved to wipe her hand over her forehead, her eyes once again catching sight of the massive hole through her palm. A sharp stabbing pain laced up the side of her head making her wince slightly and shake it to try and focus.

"Bo?" She called out, her voice full of question and confusion. Whatever was going on, she knew enough to know she was deep in it and it was fae psychedelic at its best.

Taking a first step towards the bed, Kenzi noticed it was oddly lumpy, perhaps not as empty as she had thought from the distance of the doorway.

"Bo-Bo?" Her feet stalled in their cautious approach remembering to at least look around the room for anything that seemed off, but it all looked relatively normal. There were a few clothes tossed here and there, and even one of Bo's thigh daggers lying on top of the dresser closest to the bed.

The sight of the small sharp dagger made Kenzi stop asking after her best friend momentarily, when the favourable idea of arming herself pushed itself to the forefront of Kenzi's thoughts. Taking just a second to judge the distance, Kenzi began a quick scamper towards the dresser and the chance of not feeling so vulnerable against whatever was happening.

"Kenzi."

A voice called her name, making Kenzi stop mid way between all three points; the door, the bed and the dagger. It wasn't Bo's voice, or Lauren's. In fact Kenzi wasn't even sure if she knew who it belonged too.

"Kenzi." The voice called to her a second time.

The fact that Kenzi really couldn't make herself recognize the owner of the voice made her make a decision. She ran the remaining distance to snatch hold of the dagger before pressing her back against the dresser and holding out the short sharp blade in front of her with both hands gripped tightly to the hilt.

"Remember Kenzi." The voice seemed to come from everywhere and no where at the same time.

"Who is there? Who are you?" Kenzi shouted her reply into the room tipping her head back slightly as a rather had unnatural wind began to build up in the enclosed space around her. She quickly swung the dagger out in a small arc in front of her.

The was a loud crack and then a crunching sound that grew into a full blown smashing noise, the bedroom doors that she had so recently closed were literally ripped off their mounts and pulled backwards. Beginning a wild spinning spiral downwards into an overwhelming darkness that Kenzi remembered from the basement.

With a whimper Kenzi's body began to tremble, the tip of the dagger literally bobbing up and down in the air as timber by timber and then brick by brick the door frame and wall joined the swirling maelstrom.

"Remember Kenzi." The voice urged her again as after a simple struggle a floorboard began jumping slightly before hurling itself into the dark oblivion, followed by another and another.

"Remember what, that I smoked a boatload of crack!" The dark haired beauty tried to be witty but she knew her voice didn't sound like anything other than a little girl's scared whimper.

As Kenzi looked out into the blackness that was engulfing Bo's room, she took in a sharp fearful breath as the two glowing red eyes began to come into focus again far into the distant black centre.

"Remember what?" She repeated to herself, feeling every fear response she could ever imagine firing off within her body. Fight... Flight... she was overwhelmed by fear, consumed by it. Whatever was in the blackness felt cold and lonely, it felt unnatural and almost... She found her mind seizing on the word 'unholy', the word being repeated in the voice of her elderly Aunt Zola in her ear at least a dozen times in succession. The fearful religious woman had always been giving her warnings of God's wrath in her youth. Of hell and the devil, of what a life led away from the teachings of the good book would lead to.

Yet as Kenzi tried to stand her ground, tried to focus on what it was she was supposed to remember, she saw the red eyes actually blink and for a split second be replaced by warm green ones.

In her mind's eye she could see the Dal again suddenly, even as the blackness moved in closer on her. In that vision she could see faces; Bo, she could see Bo who looked so anxious, almost angry and Lauren looking so, doctor-ish all serious and focused. Trick was there too, solemn and glum shadowed by Dyson who looked more sad and regretful than anything, and there was someone else there, someone with auburn hair and...

The image in her mind's eye made Kenzi's foot slip a little on the ever shifting floorboards of Bo's bedroom, sliding her towards the impending black hole that was growing larger, now taking up a large chunk of the succubus' room.

"Bo... oh Bo... I think I have to do a stupid thing." Kenzi spoke to herself as she actually felt herself lean forward a little and actually peer into the darkness, for once actually looking at the red glowing eyes that looked out at her from the swirling inky centre.

"No, no little one." Suddenly the top of Bo's canopy bed opened up like the entrance to an attic, the hatch pulled backwards to let the space fill with bright inviting white light. "Come, come run with me." The new voice encouraged as from the midst of the white light came a bandaged hand that reached down towards Kenzi. "Reach up, reach up here, I will pull you to safety away from the darkness." The fingers flexed quickly urging her to grab on.

Blue eyes turned from looking into the darkness to look at the hand that reached down to her, her feet already inching towards the bed from her place.

"If you are lost, just what will throwing yourself into darkness solve? Who can find you in the darkness?" The voice above her asked. "The darkness is cold, lonely and empty, no place for such a little one." The hand curled and made quick beckoning motions. "You can see it can't you, there is a beast in the darkness, one who want's your soul. Come, come quick, I can bring you to someone who loves you."

"Someone who loves me?" Kenzi's mind flooded with confusion. "Nate?" She said the young musician's name without hesitation and didn't even realize her hand had pushed up to reach out to the other one until she saw own her fingers pressing into bandaged ones and the world went bright with light as her body was lifted upwards.

-x-

"Damn you Septima."

The mostly silently Dal was broken by the curse that seemed to emanate from Thistle, though the harvester had never moved from her trance, her lips not even shaping the words. They just seemed to be everywhere at once

"What? What does that mean?" Bo's eyes flickered over to the still 'hovering' druid and then to her two companions. She then looked back reluctantly to where Kenzi and Thistle's hands were still pressed together, speared by the dagger that now had blood running slowly down the blade.

"It means the ghoul has interfered with her attempts." Dyson tried explain even as he found himself having to bare down again to keep any semblance of control over Kenzi's legs that suddenly thrashed with new abandon.

"What?" Bo's eyes went wider and she looked to her grandfather for more information or at least some encouragement.

"Septima is old and strong, Thistle will have been prepared for such a fight." Trick's response, like all his others gave nothing away, though the new wave of energized flailing that Kenzi began forced him to bear down harder in place.

Bo frowned and was about to say something else when her attention was sharply pulled away as the alarm on one of the large monitoring machines began sounding off. The noise was low but insistent, electronic and foreign to all that had been going on. Though a regular warning beep, it was accompanied by a yellow flashing LED next to a screen that showed numbers Bo didn't understand.

"What? What the hell does that mean?" Bo's voice sounded strange to her own ears, as it was strangled by the tension in her throat and neck. She turned her head around as far as she could towards the doors, almost expecting, in fact praying that despite everything miraculously Lauren would coming running out. Encased in a protection bubble somehow, but ready to poke at equipment and show off the medical skills that the brunette had come to trust so completely.

-x-

Lauren had begun to anticipate that something was changing a few moments before all her screens had finally gone 'code red' in response to the sudden dramatic drop in Kenzi's vitals. For a long time, since she had been forced to leave the main bar, Kenzi's readings had been stable and constant but then in a sudden rush things had started to drastically change.

Kenzi's respiration rate had become so erratic, that the machine had convinced itself three time it was the thing experiencing a failure and not the patient. Her blood pressure had steadily been climbing and climbing, maxing out just before the alarms would have sounded in the bar before it had plummeted downwards again. The readings made another spike and then dip before all of the doctor's readings began to go haywire.

Now Lauren could hear the alarms that matched the information her screens was telling her; the oxygen machine, the blood pressure monitor, heart rate monitor and even the neuro-electrical sensory grid she'd had carefully attached to Kenzi's scalp at key points were all sounding. The accumulation of them creating the most intense rush of auditory panic that the blonde had ever experienced as a doctor.

Without thinking, well no, without caring, Lauren pushed up from her seat and moved to a cart nearby. She picked up three pre-loaded syringes and headed straight towards the door back into the main bar. She didn't care what consequence awaited her, the reality of what was going on with her made that concept easy to sway on, the only thing important to her right now was making sure Kenzi made it through this, both for her own sake and for Bo's.

"I'm sorry Dr Lewis." As Lauren's hand went to grip the brass door handle and push it open a soft, almost sadly apologetic male voice addressed her from behind. Even though Lauren had been alone in the room up until that moment. "The ritual room is sealed."

Despite the unexpected warning, Lauren's motion had begun and as her palm pressed against the wood it should have swung fairly easily open however it went nowhere and no matter how hard she tried, she found it unmovable. She made a second attempt, putting more effort and weight behind her pull but still the door stayed in place. Finally she whirled to address the unknown voice, finding herself shocked into silence as her eyes came to rest on a tall impossibly thin male fae, with shoulder length auburn hair and the same glowing red eyes that the harvester within possessed.

Normally her brain would have processed the idea that this fae must be another Highbourne, one who either survived the cull or had been born after into a world where they were no longer accepted by their own people. But the gravity of the situation made all of those thoughts push back into the recesses of her intellect as she focused on the problem at hand. For his part, the newcomer just stood there as she stared at him, taking in her surprise nonchalantly as he blinked, appraising her back.

"I have to get in there." Lauren pointed to the door.

"You cannot." He stated impassively. "Until the ritual is complete, until it is a success or failure, the area will remain sealed. No one may enter."

"Kenzi is going to die if I don't help keep her heart beating." Lauren held up a syringe of adrenaline in her hand, gripping it white knuckled without even realizing it.

"If she cannot endure then the harvest will fail." He replied blankly and motioned with his arm. "Please retake your seat Dr. Lewis."

"You don't understand." The muscles in Lauren's jaw twitched as she threw a glance back over to the door. "I'm a doctor I cannot just let her die."

"Sit down Dr. Lewis." The reply was the same, in the same tone with the same motion of the arm.

Lauren's eyebrow twitched but seeing the futility in trying to fight whatever supernatural force was keeping the door barred, she threw herself into her chair and stared at the screens giving moment to moment input on Kenzi's condition.

"I might not be able to go in, but I still might be able to do some things." Lauren commented more to herself than to the other fae.

Refusing to give up, Lauren's hands began flicking over keys as she started up an experimental program that was designed to remotely manipulate the settings on the equipment inside the bar. It had been developed to ensure that a full 'quarantine' environment could be maintained if necessary, but was only in the early stages of testing.

If the blonde was lucky, and she prayed that she was, she should at least be able to instruct the machines to increase the oxygen saturation in Kenzi's air tube and administer some of the pre-loaded medications that were in the pumps running into her IV. It wasn't the standard treatment for the catastrophic readings that the monitors were showing her by any stretch of the imagination, but she hoped it might tip the scales a little more in Kenzi's favour.

-x-


	31. Chapter 31

Disclaimers: All original property is owned by Showcase, and we do not infer that any characters, creations or the concept of 'Lost Girl' are our property and the following fan fiction has been written purely for entertainment purposes only.

Pairings: Bo/Lauren Set directly after our story "Faeral", the third story in an AU plot line.

Rating: M (Contains scenes of violence, sexuality and nudity)

**Faery Tale: Chapter Thirty-One**

By: The Rainbowwriters

Kenzi blinked a few times and held up her hand to shield her eyes from the painfully bright white light that filled all of her senses. She wondered briefly why the light was so intensely bright and and so all encompassing for her right now, seeming to follow no matter how she turned her head or moved. It was then she worked out, it was partially because she couldn't really move. Where ever her latest 'warp' had brought her, it had landed her on her back, winded or something, and blinded by the insanely white light.

The only thing Kenzi could move easily was her hand, the one that she used to rather uselessly shield her eyes as she flailed it around a little trying to get a sense of what might be around her. All the while blinking quickly, desperately willing her eyes to adjust to the intense brightness.

Finally her pupils managed to constrict enough to make some sense of the scene around her, initially working out what was causing the blaring light that was causing so much of the problem. From what the young woman could work out, the light was coming from three huge and powerful beams, suspended overhead, in an array that reminded her of the ones used an operating theatre in a hospital or old fashioned dental surgery.

The very idea of that filled Kenzi with an instant thought of dread, as she brought her hand to her throat, instantly feeling a stretch of material across it that irrationally made her want to choke. Only the sound of voices distracted her from doing so. Voices that she recognized.

"Really doctor, is there nothing you can do?" The first voice asked, and though the words were actually slightly muffled it was a voice she would recognize anywhere.

"Nate?" Kenzi went to call out the young musician's name, but nothing came out, her lips didn't even move. She blinked even more as the thought that she couldn't talk scared to an even deeper level.

As the young woman laid there, she opened her blue eyes and tried to force her mind to come up with a plan, something. As she did Nate's face loomed into view, though most of it was obscured by a surgical mask, skull cap and safety glasses.

"Doc?" He asked again pulling the mask off his mouth, his frown severe.

Nate's face was suddenly replaced with Bo's, who also for some reason was prepped for surgery, in fact she had her hand raised up by her head, and in it was a bloody scalpel. Her blue surgical gloves smeared with the red sticky fluid.

"It's not as simple as I thought." Bo's frown was a deep as Nate's as she wiped the back of her hand across her forehead smearing her skin with blood. "The back of the cereal box made it look easy." Her voice was tight and agitated.

"Maybe I can help..." It was Dyson's voice that interrupted Bo and the shifter's face nudged into her vision, literally next to Bo's. Though instantly Kenzi could see that Dyson's eyes were yellow. Flaring her nostrils slightly, Kenzi put her hand up to try and push Dyson back. "Really Bo, I'm good with the inner workings of the human body." The wolf went on, bringing his face a little lower towards her.

"Oh please this is ridiculous." The moment before Kenzi was sure that her hand was going to be forced to press against Dyson's nose in an attempt to push him back, Lauren's authoritative tone's filled the area and the wolf mysteriously was pulled back out of sight. "Everyone knows I'm the only one who knows what they are doing here."

Kenzi's felt her mind flood with relief as the blonde's face swam a little into view. However she was instantly confused as unlike Nate or Bo, Lauren was wearing a 'Kiss the Cook' apron and a tall chef's hat. The young woman watched as Lauren reached her hand down to what seemed to be about Kenzi's mid abdomen, bringing a finger up to her lips that was covered with red sticky liquid. The dark haired young woman thought she might be sick as she watched the blonde lick the tip of her finger, smacking her lips together a little, as if assessing the taste.

"Sugar, we definitely need more sugar." Lauren announced confidently.

"Actually, Bo, Dyson, Lauren. I think you'll find what is really needed here is experience." Once again to Kenzi's ultimate relief a person about to do something very 'wrong' to whatever her predicament was, seemed to melt back into the background and Trick popped up in their place. Though even more disconcertingly, it was from whatever hole there was in her stomach. "Well that and alcohol." He reached down and produced an oversized bottle of vodka out of nowhere.

"Oh yes, a stiff drink often made her feel better." It was the musician that was back now nodding his agreement with the Blood King.

"A stiff something might make her feel better." The correction came from a topless Hale who appeared behind Nate and tapped him on the shoulder, dismissing him with a quick sideways motion of his head.

"I still say she needs sugar." Lauren crowded close again, a sad pout on her face as she pulled a straw out of the pocket in her apron.

"This is not happening, this is not happening." Kenzi squeezed her eyes shut and repeated the tense mantra, as she felt her blood rushing in her ears from sheer terror and helplessness. The light becoming brighter again even though her eyes were as tightly closed as she could get them.

The very next second Kenzi's whole world jolted, as if the medical stretcher or whatever she had been laid out on had started to move. It moved slowly at first as if being pushed up a steep incline, but then with a flip flop in her stomach Kenzi's felt the front of the table near her feet tip and suddenly everything was moving at a speed that made her ears ring and her bones hurt with each bump and jump that the uneven surface beneath the trolley caused. The only positive thing being that the glaring light slowly began to dim.

-x-

"Trick?" Bo's voice filled with a new edge of fear as suddenly beneath her her best friend's body suddenly locked in a head to toe muscular seize. Kenzi's back arched so that only her shoulders and heels were actually in contact with the mattress despite the fact that Bo was more or less laid on top of her and Dyson was pressing down on her legs. "What's happening, what do we do?" She asked of him, the edge in her voice sounding even to herself like the whine of a scared child.

"We focus on our roles as we swore to do." Trick kept his reply similar to all the others he had given his granddaughter. Though from the obvious sweat stains that marked his robe, the older fae was feeling the strain more now. "No more, no less."

Obviously frustrated by his answer Bo looked at Dyson. The wolf's face had stopped bleeding, though it didn't look any better with the crusted blood clinging to his skin and beard, a redness and swelling beginning in the flesh of his nose and cheek.

"We can not fight the battle that Kenzi does Bo, it is mainly one of fear and faith." Dyson tried to be a little more understanding to the succubus' pain.

"I don't want Kenzi to be afraid, I don't want her to have to fight." Bo countered looking back at her best friend's pale face, her alarm notching even higher when she saw a trickle of blood dribbling from Kenzi's nose. "She's bleeding, why is she bleeding?" She immediately looked back at Dyson having been happier with the level of communication she had got from him.

"Bo, you know the answer to that, this isn't just a spiritual fight." Dyson's flexed the muscles in his jaw slightly as he gave her his reply.

"Listen to the dog, sex demon." The scratchy raspy growl of Septima encouraged the conversation with a throaty chuckle. "You think this will save your friend?" She continued as she snapped and gnashed her teeth at the strands of weave over her face. "This just gives me the time, the time to grow stronger, to break this body, to claim it as mine." She pressed her head back with a curse as Trick suddenly pushed down on Kenzi's forehead hard, the ghoul sucking in a hard lungful of air. "Then I will free my master and slay you all. Spreading disease with those fingers you cradle to your bosom, bringing death with these lips that you kiss."

Dyson only gave a low growl in return, biting his tongue from mocking it back. Trick closed his eyes and focused on just keeping the pressure on Kenzi's sweat soaked forehead.

"No you're not, you're not going to do any of that, you're going back where you came from." Bo couldn't find the same composure. "I am getting Kenzi back and you will be nothing again. Nothing." Without realizing it Bo let her body ease back a little unable to keep up the tension in her muscles, with the out pouring of emotion she was putting into her words.

The ghoul instantly took advantage of the moment, letting the previous rigour like state drop out of Kenzi's body, dropping it down onto the mattress. The sudden change made Bo literally fall sideways, slipping off her best friend completely. Again the ghoul tried to put a death roll into motion, but Dyson and Trick held her steady as Bo threw herself into place. Her breathing hard and fast, tears of frustration flowing over her cheeks, anger and self-disappointment filling her eyes.

Septima cackled softly as Bo struggled to get a firm hold again, despite herself the grip the succubus had on Kenzi's hand changing to a more defensive than loving one.

The ghoul's cackle changed more into a full laugh, as it seemed to watch Bo struggle to settle herself and the weave in place. Though it seemed that some of the intense strength had gone from the ghoul's movements, and a hard cough interrupted its dry laugh. Then when its round of hard coughing produced a thick clot of congealing blood, it seemed to weaken even further.

Bo's eyes flared as the thick line of dark red trailed sideways from Kenzi's mouth and then watched as Septima pulled her best friend's mouth into a bloody smile.

"Ready for a ride?" The ghoul growled.

-x-

Kenzi's wild trolley ride ended in a rush suddenly as she found herself being brought to a sudden stop and then the whole gurney tipped up, pitching her forward only to be caught by a pair of strong arms that instantly drew her close and then stepped away from her again, twirling her off to the side in a perfect ballroom spin.

Closing her eyes to minimize the rather sickening and dizzy feeling that the spinning created in her stomach and head, Kenzi only opened them again when once again she felt herself pulled tightly against someone's flat chest. Tipping her head back, she found herself looking straight up into Nate's eyes. The young musician smiled happily at her.

"Hey there, you know for a while I thought you were going to stand me up. That you were going to listen to all those people that said a poor little Russian girl couldn't marry a rich mega star like me." He stroked her hand over her long hair briefly, and when Kenzi looked down at herself she saw that she was wearing a completely over the top white wedding dress, covered with crystals and black bows. "Again." He added with a nod as he slipped his arm around her waist and moved her to the sound of the classical ballroom music that filled the background. "Which is why I did all this, the whole big Russian Gypsy Wedding you wanted." He looked around at suddenly huge room that was filled with balloons and streamers, and hundreds of people milling drunkenly about.

"I wanted this?" Kenzi frowned slightly.

"I know, I know you wanted a pink dress but really white is traditional babe." Nate laughed softly shaking his head. "Russian Elvis is good don't you think?"

Kenzi's frown only grew as a overweight man with a Pompadour, his body stuffed into a white sequin suit, suddenly danced past them, giving Kenzi a nod.

"Thank you, thank you very much." He mumbled as he passed.

"Nate, I really have to..." Kenzi put her hand up on to the lapel of Nate's suit to steady herself more.

"Talk to Oprah I know, but she and Mrs. O are arguing about who get's to dance with Dr. Phil first." Nate shook his head with a laugh as he nodded over to the three of them in an argument by the punch bowl.

"No." Kenzi took in the bizarre sight for a moment before looking back at Nate, her eyes momentarily caught by the dark circle of blood beginning to seep through the white satin covering the back of her hand that leaned against Nate's chest. "This isn't right, I... Nate where's Bo?"

For the first time the young man's face fell.

"Babe, come on we talked about this." The musician stepped back a little and took both of Kenzi's hands. "You did the right thing with Bo and the rest of them."

"The right thing?" Kenzi pulled her hands free and backed up from Nate, the coldness that had filled her body for so long coming back to her core.

The lights and sounds of the wedding party dimmed as Kenzi's feet moved backwards, Nate's words echoing in her ears and mind over and over.

"Step right up, ladies and gentlemen, come one come all."

The sudden loud announcement made Kenzi's literally jump as she backed up into a large blue and white striped pole.

"See for yourselves the eighth wonder of the known world. A monster that has fed on a thousand souls, a creature who could rule the would with just a touch of her hand."

The young woman looked around to see rotund black haired man, dressed like a old fashioned ringmaster, who was stood leaning on a long ebony cane. He perched next to what was obviously a large cage that was suspended on a chain from the pole that Kenzi's had collided with. Or at least that pole was one of the tripod legs of a frame that held a cage aloft. Her view of what he was talking about was covered with a huge curtain.

"What about you little girl? Only a nickle, will you pay a nickle to see the freak show?" he asked looking at her. "I can promise, she won't hurt you." He added before with a flourish he pulled the lever jutting out of the floor near where he stood, and the action whisked the curtain aside to reveal a more or less stripped naked Bo, held at her wrists to the central pin of the chain to suspend her so that her feet barely touched the floor.

"Bo." Kenzi choked out a broken sob at the sight of her best friend, her hand moving to cover her face.

"Not your thing? Then how about this?" The showman seemed to disappear, only to reappear behind Kenzi, making her turn from Bo to follow his movement. "Is it a man or is it a beast?" With another flourish, the speaker pulled aside a heavy sheet of plain hessian, that was literally just tossed over a roughly made metal bar cage. A thin layer of straw covered the bottom of the archaic looking contraption and laying on it naked, looking emaciated and dehydrated, was Dyson. "No one knows which." He went on as he lifted his long cane suddenly and then sharply jabbed the wolf shifter hard between his easily visible ribs, making him bare his fangs and roll away in pain. "No one dares find out."

"D-man." Kenzi's face crumpled, her stomach turning inside out as Nate's phrase of 'You did the right thing with Bo and the rest of them' rang over and over in her head.

"Truly the things nightmares are made of aren't they little girl? Yes, these are monsters, things of a different world." The ringmaster did his disappearing trick again and appeared a little closer to Kenzi, his voice quieter. "But that's not always the case is it?" He gave her a conspiratorial look. "Do you recall stories of old, ones that chilled the blood, that told of horrors that were human not monsters? Do you recall the one of The Great Mind, who created itself monster?" He put a hand on Kenzi's shoulder and pointed his cane out towards a larger curtained off area. "Bring it to mind now if you will, how day after day this great professor would toil away in her laboratory for the creature in the bubble..."

With another grand sweeping gesture, the heavy curtain was swept aside, to reveal a 'Frankenstein-esque' laboratory within a prison cell, with a large central bed. Tethered down on it was Nadia, huge electric coils rose from each corner of the bed, between which flashed sparks of bright blue electricity. Hunched over an equally archaic desk nearby was Lauren, her hair in a traditional 'crazy' scientist mess, her look one of manic insanity.

"Is she human? Or has her humanity long since been leeched away by the monsters she tends?"

"No, she's... Lauren, Lauren it's me Kenzi." The young woman called out trying to get the blonde's attention, a tear slipping onto her cheek when brown eyes didn't turn to look at her. "They're not monsters." Kenzi tried turning her plea to the showman.

"Oh come come now child." The man, who seemed larger now, making her feel as if she was just a child looking up at him, ushered Kenzi away from Lauren. "How can you say that when our last freak even has a monstrous name?"

The last cage wasn't large, didn't have a flashy curtain or even its own stand. It was a tiny box, barely the size of the person inside, and hanging on the side of the hand carved bars was a wooden plaque that read 'The Blood King' in simple red letters. Inside, obviously barely able to turn around or stand in the tiny area, was Trick. He was naked, all but for a modesty covering loin cloth and every inch of his skin was covered with runes that had been cut into his very flesh, leaving him a bloodied mess.

Kenzi nearly just dropped to her knees and sobbed, it was all just too much.

"Let them go, let them all go." She whirled round to look at the large man who had dragged her through all of this, but he had vanished. Turning back to where Trick's cage had been, that space was empty too. "I want to go home." Kenzi heard a sob choke in her throat as she whimpered the words, more tears spilling onto her cheeks.

"Kenzi." A small voice called for her attention.

"Go away." Kenzi moved her hands to cover her eyes pressing her fingertips into the corners of them to try and stem the tears before they couldn't be stopped.

"Kenzi." The voice repeated, and then there came a soft tug on the very bottom of her pant leg. A pant leg Kenzi didn't even know she had. Though a quick look down at her legs revealed that indeed once again she was wearing scrubs.

"I just want to wake up." Kenzi whimpered letting her hands drop to her sides as she actually looked down to the floor to see what it was that was there talking to her. Looking back up at her, with his small brown paw closed around the pant cuff of her scrubs, was Mr. Kickers. "Mr. Kickers?" The raven haired girl squatted down.

"Yeah, Kenzi you're in danger. Lots and lots of danger." The small kangaroo seemed incredibly happy to have her attention as it passed on more information, his voice soft and distinctly Australian.

"It's a dream but I can't wake up." Kenzi slightly disagreed with her stuffed friend.

"No Kenzi, you need to remember." He shook his small head and twitched an ear, leaving her to watch in awe of his lifelike movements.

"Remember? Remember what?" Despite herself Kenzi reached out to ease his grip off her pant leg, both shocked and at the same time comforted when his little fluffy paw closed around her finger.

"Not to be afraid of the dark." The small stuffed kangaroo explained as Kenzi stood up, drawing him with her, cupping her hand under his feet.

"What dark?" Kenzi frowned a little looking at her little friend only to find that he had reverted back to being a stuffed toy. Looking up again, the young woman felt her skin break out in goose flesh as she watched the world in front of her suddenly begin to swirl. "That dark." She hissed under her breath, feeling her body fill with the now familiar buzz of adrenaline and endorphins of fear. "Not being afraid of the dark is really hard Mr. Kickers..." She whispered, gripping the small stuffed animal tightly. "When it has eyes." She felt her breath become shallow and fast as once more the luminous red orbs began to glow from the centre of oblivion.

It was only as she stared into the darkness, focusing on the red orbs that Kenzi became focused on the suddenly overwhelming memory not of these eyes, but of others. Ones that were just as other worldly, just as inhuman somehow. Ones that glowed with an unearthly glow, all be it a more acceptable colour. Blue. She had been frightened of them too, but they had belonged of course to someone who would never hurt her, never want harm to come to her.

"Bo." Kenzi forced herself to swallow, as she clutched Mr. Kickers even tighter. "This better be from you Bo." She took a deeper breath and began running towards the darkness.

-x-


	32. Chapter 32

Disclaimers: All original property is owned by Showcase, and we do not infer that any characters, creations or the concept of 'Lost Girl' are our property and the following fan fiction has been written purely for entertainment purposes only.

Pairings: Bo/Lauren Set directly after our story "Faeral", the third story in an AU plot line.

Rating: M (Contains scenes of violence, sexuality and nudity)

**Faery Tale: Chapter Thirty-Two**

By: The Rainbowwriters

Bo's body was beginning to hurt, the physical finally beginning to match the mental and emotional, as the battle the three of them entered it's next phase with Kenzi's body jerking almost rhythmically up and down on the bed. At least this motion was more predictable, meaning that Bo and Dyson were managing to keep a better hold on her than before, which was a good thing considering the fatigue that was beginning to set in.

Suddenly though that all changed as Kenzi's body jack-knifed. Her tiny hips pushed high, her shoulders slammed down and another bloodcurdling scream escaped from her bloody lips. The movement was so severe that it, combined with the horror of her best friend crying out almost made the succubus pull back.

"And so it begins." The ominous and prophetic like statement filled the Dal, seeming to come from everywhere and no where at the same time, Bo wasn't even sure she even recognized the voice who uttered it.

"Begins?" Bo stared at Trick only because in the position she was over Kenzi he was the only one she could see without moving. "The last hour has been what? The preview?" The succubus was doing her best to not lay her full weight on Kenzi's body, but at the same time doing her best to keep the fragile weave in place with the very odd angle of her best friend's body. At Kenzi's feet, Dyson had shifted his position entirely to keep his grip on her legs, just tyring to keep a hold of both of them to keep them on the mattress.

"Bo, concentrate." Trick encouraged his granddaughter softly with a directing nod of his head towards where Thistle was still hovering.

The succubus quite honestly hadn't been paying much attention at all to the harvester during the whole process so far, as anything that had happened hadn't seem to affect her in the slightest. All of Kenzi's motions and movements had oddly stopped at the elbow joint of the arm that Thistle held and did not seem to phase or move the old fae in any way. Her trance like state was complete and total.

Now however that wasn't exactly true.

Thistle had raised the hand that was pierced with Kenzi's by the thin bladed dagger, to a point that stretched Kenzi's arm, the shreds of Lauren's carefully wrappings trailing down like streamers from the thin limb.

Then as Bo stared mesmerized as suddenly, within the blood that stained Thistle's pale skin from the wound in her hand, the succubus could see a thin strand of bluish green. It looked like a tiny snake that was easing out of its home, reticent and unsure that the world was a safe place. It definitely stemmed from the point where the stiletto dagger attached the harvester to her best friend's body though.

As Bo watched the line of blue grew in length, encircling both Thistle's and Kenzi's hands in tight circles. Then a smokey black trail began to follow it, also flowing from the same point, though this never touched the flesh of either woman.

"Wha..." Bo made the small noise.

"The harvest Bo." Dyson's tone was almost reverent, not that the wolf was even looking at the harvester to know exactly what Bo was questioning.

Bo thought of a thousand things to say and ask but couldn't say anything. Despite the shaking and revolt that the body beneath her began to display again in, earnest the succubus couldn't take her eyes off Thistle. She just watched as the tiny thin blue trail spiralled around Thistle and Kenzi's arms in slow deliberate coils, constantly shadowed by the smokey ghost-like trail.

Reaching the harvester's elbow the blue thread seem to hesitate for a moment before pulling free from Thistle's skin and then in what could only be described as a soft arc eased out to reach towards the lip of a small mother of pearl bowl that was set one of the tables, set up to hold it and it alone.

It was at the point that the blue line migrated from Thistle's skin that the smoke trail separated from it. The darker, more ethereal trace pulled away from the blue and trailed slightly off to Thistle's side drawn not towards the mother of pearl bowl, but instead towards a tall lead crystal bottle.

"What is that?" Bo found herself transfixed on the long trail of blue that was still winding into the pearl bowl, sparks of blue began to flicker across her eyes as she watched it coil over itself in the shallow container.

"Look away Bo." Trick suddenly caught on to the change in his granddaughter and called to her feeling foolish for not thinking about this before now. Though not true 'chi' the spiritual essence a harvester worked with was bound to have a profound effect on Bo's succubus nature.

Bo tried hard to pull her gaze away but just couldn't.

"Is that... Kenzi?" She heard herself ask, her voice sounding strange to herself.

"Bo." Tricks voice was sterner. "Look away."

"Bo." Dyson added his voice to the Blood King's plea, but for a rather different reason. Being in such direct contact with Kenzi's body, he was constantly aware how much help the succubus was being with controlling the flailing young woman, the more distracted Bo became, the less effort she was putting into actually holding Kenzi down.

Unfortunately Dyson wasn't the only one who had noticed this. With a sudden wild burst of energy and fervour 'Kenzi' used her own hand and Bo's to sucker punch the succubus in the chest, driving her back off her body.

Snapping instantly out of her reverie, Bo slipped and scrambled back up the side of the bed watching as now she had broken free from Bo's grasp, Kenzi was flailing around to try and get a good hold of the weave that lay over her body and pull it off. Thankfully Dyson and Trick had it pinned at her head and feet. Bo watched trying to time her movement right as to when she should strike out in an attempt to grab her best friend's hand again. She was successful on her first attempt pulling Kenzi's hand firmly back between her own breasts.

"BITCH!" Septima cursed loudly. "Let me go!"

Bo clung on to Kenzi's hand and braced her arm across the slender woman's shoulders.

"Let me go." The ghoul snapped and gnashed its teeth at Bo angrily.

Then as suddenly as the new wave of fighting began it stopped and Kenzi's body slumped against the mattress. The change so dramatic that even Dyson made a small noise of surprise.

"Have pity Bo." Kenzi's voice filled the Dal. It was sad and pained, echoing around the all but empty Dal almost hauntingly. "Pity for your best friend."

Dyson looked up from his place to Trick who immediately frowned hard. Kenzi's head was tipped back, white eyes were wide open as blood stained lips formed the sad pathetic words.

"Bo, look at me Bo, she's killing me."

Trick's lip curled as his granddaughter immediately turned to look at Kenzi knowing that she wasn't seeing what they did and indeed she wasn't.

Bo blinked up at her best friend, looking straight into frightened watery blue eyes.

"Please Bo, it hurts, it hurts so much." The young woman's lips and teeth were coated with a thick layer of blood, the dribble from her nose now more watery as it flowed openly across her cheek. "Make her stop."

Bo's eyes flicked to Thistle, the trail of blue beginning to peter off, the end already visible out of the wound, but still looped around the harvester and Kenzi's interlocked hands. The succubus pulled her attention back to her best friend's face.

"I can be taught, taught to feed, like you so I'm not dangerous. Together Bo, you and I. I can be like you." Kenzi blinked at Bo with wide blue innocent eyes.

"Trick, Trick she's listening to it." Dyson's voice grew tense and thick, his eyes flicking from the scene on the bed to the progress of the harvesting off to his side. Obviously looking to the Blood King for direction on what to do.

"Isabeau, listen to me, your grandfather." Trick kept all the pressure he could on Kenzi's body but shifted his focus onto the succubus, who was by the second easing up from her own role in the process.

"Bo don't. You know what he's going to say, what did he say about Lauren, he hates me, hates humans, he wants me to die." A slight edge of panic filled Kenzi's tone. For the first time it was Kenzi that tightened her grip on Bo's hand.

For the first time Kenzi's comment seemed to cause confusion in Bo's mind. Kenzi's saying something like that about Trick sounded just...wrong.

"I..," Bo opened her mouth to say something.

"Listen to him Bo." Dyson sensed her moment of hesitation and encouraged it immediately.

"Bo, please," Kenzi's voice stuttered and faltered, stumbling as if through tears or great pain. "Don't listen to him. He's the one that made this happen. He planned this... with the Norn, as a way to get back what he wanted and a way to get rid of me." Kenzi's sweat soaked brow crumpled with pain, her blue eyes looking longingly at Bo. "He just wants you to himself Bo, you know that, no Lauren, no me."

Bo felt her heart beat faster, Kenzi's words stirring memories and feelings too close to the surface to be ignored. She turned her head to stare at Dyson, her eyes flashing blue and she drew quick breaths in and out of her nose.

But what she saw made it all stop.

Dyson was holding desperate to Kenzi's legs, his swollen and bloody face now beginning to show signs of bruising, his eyes tired and deeply sad. He looked like a man terrified that someone very important to him was losing the most important battle of their lives.

Taking a steadier breath, Bo turned her head back to look at Kenzi, a last electric blue flare dancing across her eye as she drew her best friend's hand to her chest again.

"I love you Kenzi." She lowered her head pressing her lips to Kenzi's knuckles. "Now you." She shifted her grip on the hand in her own and tensed her body, putting all of her strength back into the pressure keeping Septima on the bed. "Get the hell out of her."

"NO!" With a scream of anguish the young woman's body began to writhe and thrash beneath Bo, bucking and rolling and fighting as hard as she could.

Trick, Dyson and Bo all put their full focus and power into keeping control of Kenzi, so much so that they didn't notice that over by Thistle, the last of the coloured trails were just pulling at the very edge of the harvester's arm, before drifting off to their separate containers. The smokey one particularly seeming to try to cling and linger.

Then there was nothing.

Both trails slipped free from pale skin to drift off towards each collection point, and for a second there was silence as even Kenzi's body dropped resistance free to the mattress.

The next second however was another story as every single medical instrument in the room began to alarm, the noises screaming in panic over the readings they were getting.

"Kenzi?" Bo who had looked briefly at Thistle for some explanation of the sudden change, snapped her attention back to her best friend. "KENZI!"

-x-

"KENZI!" Lauren launched herself at the thick wooden door in the Dal, her hand finding the handle, her shoulder landing firmly on the hard wood with all of her might, even though it didn't move so much as a millimetre. "Open this god-damn door." She slapped the wood hard and turned to stare wide eyed at the tall fae who was stood looking almost blankly at her.

"Dr. Lewis, please restrain yourself." He made the somewhat bland calming instruction.

"Damn restrain and damn you, my friend in there has just flat lined and I need to get in there and save her life." She angrily pulled the hair tie out of her hair and tossed it at the nearest surface.

"While your machines are remarkable doctor, their heralding of the young human's death is slightly premature, her essence has been removed from her body but it is contained not lost to the universe." He gave a soft shake of his head. "It is merely a stage within the process and not the end result." He went on. "And if you were to injure yourself now you will not be able to attend to her if she survives the next few moments, and that would be very unfortunate."

Lauren thumped the door again and squeezed her eyes shut in frustration and worry, feeling more helpless now than she had ever felt before.

-x-

"No, no, this wasn't supposed to happen." Bo's voice was broken and fragile as she shook her head over and over. She had abandoned her grip on Kenzi's hand and was now touching the young woman's face as much as she could through the magical weave. Her fingers smearing blood and tears over pale skin as she repeated the simple word 'no' over and over. "Do something." She suddenly snapped her head up looking at her grandfather, electric blue bolts flashing through her eyes. "Tell me what to do."

"Be patient Bo." Trick urged her, though it was obvious there was a hint of worry in his voice. "This is the art of the harvest... to take life is so simple, to give it hard."

"I can't do this with out you Kenz." Bo felt tears fall from her eyes onto Kenzi's face as she took hold of her best friend's hand again, pulling it back to her heart. "And even if I could, I don't want to." She frowned harder still as nothing about her best friend changed.

All three 'active' participants in the ritual had been so fixated on Kenzi since the dramatic shift in events, none of them had watched what had happened elsewhere in the room. They hadn't noticed the subtle swirl of bluish green, this time much more translucent and air. It swirled out of the mother of pearl bowl looking almost like candyfloss, up and around all of the harvester's body, before moving in soft 'tufts' towards the hilt of the dagger to seeming disappear into the metal.

"The harvesting is complete."

Thistle's voice suddenly spoke up over the cacophony of noise coming from the alarming medical machines, making Bo turn her head towards her in both surprise and anger.

"What do you mean complete?" She began her breathing coming to her quick and shallow, but even as it did, the succubus both heard and felt something change.

One by one the hard angry alarms began to fall silent, each flat line being replaced with a trace or a blip, a curve or line. Kenzi's chest lightly rose and fell.

Thistle's body came to rest with her feet back on the ground softly, and she immediately pulled the thin bladed dagger from out of their hands, catching Kenzi's wounded hand with her own before it could fall to the mattress. Putting the dagger aside, the harvester pulled a roll of pale blue cloth from the small pack around her waist and quickly bound Kenzi's hand, before carefully placing it down beside her body.

"I will seal the soul mark when she is more recovered, do not move her from this place until it is done." Thistle directed them, her tone exhausted as thick red blood spilled from her hand down over her arm unchecked. She turned and then raised her bleeding arm above the open top of the bottle that the smoke trail had travelled to, letting a good portion of her blood drip into it before sealing the top with molten wax. "I must now decide another fate." She added reaching to pick up the bottle with her uninjured hand.

The instant the bottle had been sealed the door at the back of the bar, that had kept Lauren out of the room was flung open and the blonde ran into the room not even approaching Kenzi from the side that Bo still occupied, but instead taking the one nearest Thistle, instantly beginning a fast medical assessment. At her intervention both Dyson and Trick removed themselves from the bedside, the wolf staggering a little, his limbs screaming in pain and cramp, made it to the nearest stool to sit down, where as Trick moved to the harvester.

"It pains me Blood King for now, according to ancient light lore, I must ask you for direction." Thistle didn't look at him as she held the glass bottle carefully, running her finger over every millimetre of its surface.

Trick couldn't help but arch his eyebrow in mild confusion.

"Before I removed this ghoul from your granddaughter's friend, it was the property of another, ancients rites of ownership would ask of me to return it." She explained to him her dilemma.

"It is my understanding that it was given as a gift and as such no claim of ownership can be made." Trick shook his head to Thistle's enquiry. "I would urge you to remove it to whatever part of the Highbourne estate you keep the urns of the most dangerous essences, and I pray never let it see this world again."

"How little you ever understood us Blood King." Thistle shook her head almost sadly. "I would no more want to keep this abomination, than I would wish the plagues it carries on humanity." She breathed out. "With your permission, I shall return this creature to a place where it can never again hurt those who are loved by at least some of those who live among us."

Trick merely gave her a tempered nod and moved to put the long sword he still had a death like grip on, back onto the weapons table he had taken it from, what seemed like an eternity ago. The grip leaving a deep impression on his aching hand.

-x-

Bo could feel the shake in her body as she stood holding onto Kenzi's hand while Lauren worked. The blonde had quickly asked for permission from Thistle to remove the carefully crated magical weave so that she could interact with her patient more directly. Working faster than the succubus could ever have imagined she had stripped away frayed fragments of bandages and cleaned up the young woman's face to clear her nose and mouth, ensuring nothing would block her airways as she put a full oxygen mask on her patient. The pure oxygen meant to help compensate for the long moments that Kenzi's body had been clinically dead.

The doctor had moved back and forth between her carts, the machines and Kenzi at least a dozen times, adding syringes of medicine into her IV lines as an attempt to further aid the young woman's exhausted body. If there was one thing Lauren knew in her heart, since Kenzi had survived the Harvest she was not going to let anything hurt her now.

"Bo." The succubus wasn't sure if it was the first time Lauren had said her name or the tenth, though it was probably closer to the later by the look on her lover's face when finally the brunette looked at her. "You should go sit down." Lauren directed, her tone soft and loving. "Kenzi's unconscious and I think she's going to be for a while and you've been through a lot, your body is going to start to shut down on you if you're not careful."

Bo blinked at her lover trying to process what she was saying. Was it a trick, a trick to get her away from Kenzi? She needed to stay with Kenzi, to fight... The shake in her arms getting a little worse.

"Bo it's okay, I'll be with her." Lauren tried again when the succubus didn't move.

Some what erratically Bo looked between Lauren and Kenzi feeling her chest tighten a little, the edges of her vision dimming.

"Baby." Lauren reached out and put her hand over the one that cradled Kenzi's to her chest. "It's going to be okay. Kenzi is going to be okay." She stated clearly giving a firm squeeze. "We did it, you did it." She whispered the affirmations with strong conviction. "It's over."

-x-


	33. Chapter 33

Disclaimers: All original property is owned by Showcase, and we do not infer that any characters, creations or the concept of 'Lost Girl' are our property and the following fan fiction has been written purely for entertainment purposes only.

Pairings: Bo/Lauren Set directly after our story "Faeral", the third story in an AU plot line.

Rating: M (Contains scenes of violence, sexuality and nudity)

**Faery Tale: Chapter Thirty-Three**

By: The Rainbowwriters

After a long few minutes of being inextricable from Kenzi's side while Lauren worked, Bo was eventually persuaded away by her grandfather. Under the pretence of helping him prepare warm drinks for everyone, to aid their recuperation after the highly traumatic last few hours. Even though his persuasion had been successful, the succubus spent all the time it took her and her grandfather to leave the main room of the Dal, looking over her shoulder, watching every move the blonde made, or looking for any sign of a response from her best friend.

When they finally breached the Blood King's more private rooms, Bo had no option but to change her focus, instead choosing to watch as her grandfather moved to gather together a full tea service on an ornate silver tray.

"Thank you." Bo heard herself say the words almost before she actually willed herself to do it.

Trick paused mid motion as he was putting a four china cup onto the tray.

"For what?" He asked softly not looking at his granddaughter, just focusing on the task at hand.

"Everything." The succubus replied taking a slightly staggered intake of breath. "For having the strength to take on the role I couldn't in the harvest, for finding Thistle in the first place despite the history." She looked up and over to her grandfather. "I can't imagine the strength that took." She added honestly. "The thought, the fact that you did it for me, for Kenzi..." Bo took another more stable breath. "Means so much." She gave her head a soft shake.

"I am glad I was able to be of some help." Trick moved away from the now prepared tray over towards the kitchen area of the room. There was something of the reluctant hero in his tone that seemed to suggest he was uncomfortable with any kind of thanks or praise for his part in all of this.

Bo watched for a moment longer as he fussed with sorting through an apparently vast array of teas and brew choices, before selecting the right one for the situation.

"I'm sorry that..." She began but stopped as she watched her grandfather turn towards her softly shaking his head.

"Now is not the time for apologies or regrets." He said softly. "Now is a time to be content that our goal has been achieved. The harvest was completed successfully, Kenzi's is free of the Ghoul, and the people of the city are free from the fear of plague, death and misery." He summed up everything they had managed to accomplish.

"Yes." Bo almost felt as if Trick had admonished her slightly though at no time had his tone been angry or aggressive. "Will it be okay I mean with Kenzi being here at the Dal until she's well enough for Thistle to do the..."

"Bo..." Trick turned again from the preparation and looked, initially his countenance firm, almost disproving, but it quickly softened when he saw the worried expression on his granddaughter's face. "It is quite alright, the local population will managed without the Dal for a few days. There are other place that can be used to sign in and out of the area at such times. Hale has already promised to manage all important travel concerning light fae matters." He abandoned what he was doing and moved closer to Bo with a soft look of genuine sympathy. "Really Bo, it's time to relax and know that a battle has been won." He reached out and squeezed his granddaughter's hand.

"That's what I thought when we killed the Garuda, and look what's happened to us all since then." Bo replied blinking sad brown eyes at him.

-x-

Lauren only left Kenzi's bedside when she was as happy as she could be that her young friend was as stable as possible, as comfortable as she could be and resting as well as could be expected. All her readouts were good, her levels acceptable and she even looked 'better' than she had for what seemed like so long. The ghostly white colour had come out of Kenzi's complexion, and was replaced by the rosy cheeks of overexertion.

Taking an extra minute to tuck Mr. Kickers into the carefully turned down clean sheet she had put on the bed, Lauren pressed the finger tips of her left hand to her lips and then rested them lightly on Kenzi's forehead.

The raven haired young woman did look a thousand times better than she had just half an hour before because not only had Lauren stabilized her and taken care of everything medical that she possibly could have, she had taken the time to carefully clean her up, concentrating mainly on her face, even lightly brushing her characteristic black bangs so that they laid so perfectly over her pale forehead. The attention to detail made her look a little like snow white, tucked up asleep in the oversized bed, that she had also gotten a clean pillowcase for.

"Dyson, if you wouldn't mind watching her." Lauren looked over at the wolf who was stood by the bar, having been left rather awkwardly with nothing to do when the Blood King had so unsubtly ushered his granddaughter out of the room. "She'll just sleep, but it would be better if someone was with her." Lauren kept her tone smooth and even smiled at him as he dropped a quick nod at her as he moved instantly to pull up a bar stool beside the bed and take up his vigil.

Lauren took a little breath in as he moved, despite everything that had happened between her and the wolf, his love of Kenzi was undeniable and that she had to admire.

Sliding a hand into her lab coat pocket Lauren made her way over towards where Thistle was silently and methodically collecting together specific elements of the array of equipment that littered the Dal. The harvester stopped as she approached and looked up.

"Can I help you Dr. Lewis?" Thistle asked. "Is there a problem with Kenzi?"

"Yes, that is..." Lauren cast a quick glance over her shoulder at the large medical bed. "No..." She shook her head quickly. "There's no problem with Kenzi, she's sleeping." The blonde explained. "I actually came to see if you needed my help." Lauren looked at Thistle with a softly arched eyebrow. "Your hand." She pointed out when the harvester seemed a little lost as to what the blonde was talking about.

"Oh." Thistle made the small noise and looked down at her own hand that she had done nothing at all with. Indeed her hand and most of her arm was just covered in dried blood, the wound itself still slightly oozing with the constant use the harvester was forcing on it.

"May I?" Lauren took a step closer.

A slightly amused smile spread across Thistle's face as she put down what she was packing and nodded, moving to sit down on the edge of the booth bench she was closest to. She held out her hand for inspection and Lauren took it lightly to make a quick cursory judgement before she released it again.

"I'll be right back." She excused herself and moved off to one of the resource carts beside Kenzi's bed. Returning the next moment, Lauren began the task of cleaning, packing and dressing Thistles hand. All the while the harvester sat back watching her, never moving, not even flinching as the blonde was forced to disinfect the whole area so long after the penetrating wound had been caused.

The whole process didn't take Lauren long, and soon she was finishing the bandaging with neat strips of tape.

"I'll need to change the dressing in twelve hours. Will you still be here in twelve hours?" Brown eyes looked at red, without trace of fear or hesitation.

A larger smile spread across Thistle's face.

"Yes, doctor, I will." The harvester replied with a nod. "I will be here until my job is done." She replied. "I cannot leave until the vulnerability in Kenzi's soul is sealed and I cannot do that until she is strong enough." She explained more.

"Then I will change it in twelve hours." Lauren confirmed her plan. "Try and minimize usage, I don't know enough about druids and the way you heal to know how to help you, but I know enough about injuries like that to recommend resting it and avoiding aggravating the wound."

"Perhaps I can increase your knowledge a little in the time I am here." Thistle made the thinly veiled offer with her now not so rare smile.

Lauren stood up and gathered together the garbage she had made during her treatment.

"I'd like that." She nodded honestly.

-x-

The harvester had only stayed in the Dal about another hour after Trick and Bo had appeared with drinks for everyone, in that time she had collected up a select number of things, left others, and arranged obviously in a very specific way around the room a combination of remaining and new things. She had given her word that she would return in at dawn the next morning and then had been met by the tall thin fae that had been with Lauren in the lower rooms of the Dal during the harvesting, and the two had left together in silence.

Thistle's absence changed the atmosphere in the Dal as Trick and Dyson both seemed to relax a little without her presence. The wolf instantly looking more tired and pained as his level of tension dropped. The Blood King's energy level also seemed to dip as his guard lowered, the knock on effect making Bo feel uncomfortable because she wasn't ready to leave her best friend, indeed she had no intentions of leaving even though she understood people needed to rest.

As if reading Bo's mind, or at least her body language Dyson pushed up off his bar stool and stretched out his aching body.

"Well, I think if you have next watch Bo, I'm going to go home, throw myself in the shower and get some rest." He looked at the succubus with a slight smile. "I feel a little like I got my ass kicked."

Bo looked back at him with a slight smile on her face too.

"We'll call if there's any change." The succubus promised pushing up to stand in reaction to his motion more than anything. The wolf nodded in acceptance of the genuine offer.

"Dyson, if you need something I could give you pain killers..." Lauren didn't stand but she did turn to look at the wolf as he turned and began to move towards the exit.

"No, it's okay thanks doc." He gave her a solid nod. "I'll see you all later." He added turning again.

"Dyson." Bo called out before he could leave, making him stop once more. "Thank you, if you hadn't...Without you I wouldn't have..." She badly fumbled.

Dyson just nodded again and took a breath before slipping out into the street.

-x-

Lauren was honestly amazed at how for someone who was usually so focused on action and the need to be 'doing' something, Bo had managed to do nothing but watch Kenzi sleep for such a long time. There were times that the succubus seemed to get a little fussy, but then she would either pick at the sheet edge, or fiddle with Mr. Kickers a little. Once having a full fledged conversation with the small stuffed kangaroo about the changes that were going to be made at the club house, particularly in the basement. Lauren couldn't help but smile at Mr. Kickers abundant use of the word 'crikey' in his responses to the succubus or his continual references to the possibility of having a 'barbie and a beer' some time soon, all performed in Bo's almost comically bad Australian accent. It seemed the brunette's entire idea of Australia must have come from watching a re-run of Crocodile Dundee. Authentically Australian yes, but a movie a little heavy with stereotypical sayings and characters.

Even Trick had been in and out of the main bar, mainly tidying as was his want. The older fae liked to feel in charge and Lauren had learned one of the ways he maintained that feeling was to 'run a tight ship' as it were. The blonde became a little suspicious however when on he latest trip into the private rooms, the Blood King didn't quickly return, even after some twenty minutes.

Easing up from her place beside Bo, Lauren leaned in and kissed her lover's cheek, making a generic excuse to go and find out where the other fae had gone. The blonde entered the lower rooms to be met by rather a loud noise coming from the vault. Curiosity being one of her worst traits Lauren eased further into the room.

"Trick?" She called out.

The Blood King reappeared from the vault the next moment, pushing a box that was nearly as large as him. Seeing immediately what it was Lauren had to suppress a soft laugh. Trick moved around to lean on the side of the box and looked at the blonde with a smile.

"What?" He said with a look of mock innocence. "Not everything in here is a thousand years old. Now come and help me pick find sheets."

-x-

Bo picked at a stitch on the seam of her leather pants. With surprisingly little effort, she worked the end of it loose and soon had a little black cotton tail pulled out of the seam, that she could tug at, pulling it taut and winding it around her finger.

"Mr. Kickers."

Bo's finger stopped mid turn as her head snapped up turning straight to Kenzi. To her ultimate surprise blue eyes were looking at her, open only a little, but still open and most definitely looking at her.

"Is Australian." Kenzi announced weakly.

Bo's face broke into an almost beautiful smile as she pushed off the stool she had been sat on and grabbed one of Kenzi's hands, the other moving to brush at her best friend's bangs and stroke her cheek.

"He's got a wicked accent." The young woman attempted a weak smile.

"Oh Kenzi." Bo continued with the stroking and general looks of overwhelmed relief, her eyes instantly filling with happy tears. "You scared me." She felt her bottom lip tremble almost uncontrollably.

"Takes more than a ghoul to take me down." Kenzi's voice began to deteriorate a little, her strength ebbing quickly. "I'm part succubus, by association." Her blue eyes fluttered a little.

"You sure are." Bo took a steadying breath in. "You sure are."

-x-

It hardly seemed possible; soft lighting, soft music, soft clean fresh sheets, and the weight of her lover's head on her shoulder, arm across her stomach, and leg over hers. Skin against skin, warm, soft, safe. After all that had happened to have this slice of perfection seemed impossible.

Bo shifted, wiggling in place, tucking her hand up behind her head, bending the leg that Lauren hadn't claimed up, so that her foot rested flat on the cool sheet.

"Er Bo, do you think you could wiggle less." Lauren's less than confident voice broke the succubus' happy bubble.

"Sorry what?" She asked totally missing the point as she flopped onto her side. The wild move making the entire mattress shimmy over and over.

"You, moving, less." Lauren pointed out again, using one hand to hold on to the plastic side of the inflatable bed, the thing that Trick had pulled out of the vault, the thing she had carried out into the main room of the Dal, inflated, dressed and was now laying in feeling like she was hovering over a bowl of jello.

"Sorry." Bo apologized and though Lauren had no doubt the succubus meant it, the smile on her lover's face was as bright as the nightlight on the table that she had brought to the side of the air mattress.

Bo reached out and traced her fingers over the tank top cover Lauren's stomach, in soft wide circles.

"Does this count?" She asked making sure to anchor her elbow to her side so that she wasn't actually moving her body at all.

Lauren couldn't help but smile at her lover's attempt at adherence to her rule.

"You need to rest, the last thing Kenzi needs is for us to wake her up." Lauren pointed out with a soft grin playing along for a moment before letting her voice drop into a serious tone. "Really Bo, you might be a succubus, but you need to recharge, to rest. You can't just give give give all the time." She reasoned gently. "Sometimes you need to take a little too." She thread her fingers into Bo's on her stomach. "So take a little time out and sleep, we'll all be here in the morning."

Very carefully Bo moved as close as she could to Lauren and changed the dynamic of their embrace, being the one to lay against the blonde, as much of her touching the other woman as she could possibly manage. With a soft content sigh she closed her eyes and just took long, slow deliberate breaths in through her nose and out through her mouth. Focusing on the smell of Lauren's skin, the trace of candle smoke in the air, clean sheets and even the under tones of stale beer.

"I love you." Bo breathed onto the skin of Lauren's shoulder, before placing a kiss there, her body suddenly overwhelmed by just how tired it was. How tired it was allowed to be in this protected place.

"Always." Lauren agreed, her voice a soft whisper as she reached out her hand, snapping off the beside lamp committing the Dal to a comforting darkness.

The end... For now...


End file.
